It's Not My Time
by Kali Omisha
Summary: STORY HAS GONE THROUGH MAJOR EDITING CHANGES (3-2-2017) Ann is from the real world and is thrown violently face first into the fallout 4 world, can she survive becoming a ghoul? There will be many spoilers. Story starts off with crossovers, then gets heavy into fallout. There is blood, Gore , violence , Adult nudity and of course Hancocks drug use.
1. And so it starts

"Oh God, you're a bitch" Ann laughed as she watched her friend take perfect aim at the raiders crotch.

The poor guy didn't see her aiming her gun at him even though she was in plain sight. With a giggle her friend pulled the R1 button with perfect accuracy. It was almost comical how the guy just exploded from that one tiny 10 mm bullet. A nice finishing touch from the bloody mess perk.

"God! It would be so much fun to live in the fallout world" May said as she popped a Cheeto in her mouth.

Ann was at May's house playing fallout 4, one of the best time-wasting games money could buy. It was Ann's game and PS4, but she had long ago played through the game several times and had beaten all the factions just to see how they all ended. Her friend May was working on saving up for her own fallout game and system, but was eager to play.

Ann had let her borrow her PS4 months ago and just like Ann had done months ago, May was playing the hell out of Fallout 4.

"Oh hell no, I wouldn't want go there, it would be a total nightmare" Ann answered her friend with a laugh as she walked to the front door to get her shoes. "That place would flat out suck worse than… a bag of limp dicks." Ann said with a laugh as she remembered the dead pool movie they had just watched earlier that day. "And not to mention, everything in that world is full of radiation and the food looks like it would taste worse than crap. Then, If the radiation poisoning doesn't kill you and you somehow survive the food making you shit yourself to death, you've also got psychotic people and animals around every corner trying to maim, murder or eat you." Ann then looked up at May with a shiver "One last word,...Deathclaws."

Ann shook her head as she gathered her things and set them all by the door. She was always forgetting something at May's house. "Deathclaws are not something I would like to fuck with in life."

Ann took one more look around the house and nodded when she thought she had gathered everything.

Ann walked over to her friend sitting on the couch still playing Fallout.

May pulled up her pip boy to pause the game and turned to Ann "Yeah, but still… it would be awesome meeting Danse and chilling with Hancock in real life." She said as she put down the PS4 controller. "Speaking of Hancock, how's your crossover tattoo doing?" May got up to look at Ann's tattoo.

Ann pulled the back of her shirt up and turned her back to her friend. "It's finally done with the scabbing and itching stage so I think it's finally healed." Ann pulled the back of her shirt back down and continued with her packing.

It was a cartoony picture of a female looking Dead pool hanging on Hancock throwing a peace sign. Hancock had his trademark mischievous grin on his face as he was playfully throwing the bird with his hand not wrapped around dead pool's shoulders.

Ann had redrawn it from a picture she saw on the internet. She had found the original idea for the picture while looking for Hancock and Dead pool pictures to fill her phone up with.

May's face lit up as she pointed to Ann's cell on the coffee table, "Speaking of Dead pool, I download the movie into your phone, I hope it works." May looked at the phone with a smile.

Ann sighed as she walked over to the table. "May… you really didn't have to do that." Ann picked up her phone and grabbed the charge cord. It would have been one of those things forgotten had May not said anything about it.

"It's virus free I promise. You bought the movie and downloaded the app to watch your digital copy, but at least now you can now watch it when you want without needing the damn internet or eating your data up." May gave Ann a friendly hug good-bye. "Besides you've let me barrow your PS4 for this long I had to repay you somehow."

With a sigh Ann shrugged her shoulders. "It's bad and illegal doing that down loading crap. Thank you though." Ann said with a smile as she put her phone into her brown and tan hippie bag with mushrooms printed all over it. The bag was big and had to be slung across her shoulders to keep it from dragging across the ground. "Alright, I think I got everything. God I hate going back to work after having a few nice days off, any more it feels like work is all my life revolves around."

Ann picked up her overnight bag and made for the door. Ann had spent her two days off from work at her friend's house and had to head back home to the country to take care of house cleaning and animals.

May laughed and poked Ann on her shoulder. "Yeah but working keeps the power on so you can play games and hatch your chickens." May said with a smile.

Ann opened the front door just as the sky lit up with distant lightning in the direction she would be driving in. Faint thunder followed letting her know the storm was close. Ann smiled at the flashing sky and with a sarcastic tone held her hands up, "Ah yes, behold! The power of Missouri weather. If you don't like it just wait around and it will change in a few hours." Ann shook her head then took her stuff to her old Chevy hatch back, otherwise known as the granny wagon.

May got a worried look on her face when she saw the intensity of the lightning. "You sure you don't want to stay another night and just go home first thing in the morning?" she asked as the sky lit up bright again. "Odd, I saw the news this morning and they said it was going to be a nice clear night tonight…" the sound of thunder rolled towards them as if to laugh at what May just said.

Ann just shook her head, shrugged her shoulders and smiled "I'll be fine, I've driven through this kind of weather before. It's kind of fun really. The winds in the last storm I drove in got so bad, it felt like it was lifting part of the car off the ground." Ann got into her car and started it up, "Besides, you forget I live on a farm. I can't leave the house for more than a day or two before the animals run out of food and water."

Ann waved goodbye as she put her car into gear and backed out of her friend's driveway with another wave goodbye.

Ann pulled her cell phone out of her bag to see what time it was when she stopped at the stop sign at the end of the road. Almost 10:00pm, Ann groaned. It would be about 10:45pm by the time she got home. Everyone she know had to live nearly an hour's drive away. Ann tossed her phone back into the bag and let out a sigh. Oh well, at least with everyone so far it made for some fun mini vacations on her days off.

Ann looked to make sure the road was clear and pushed the gas to go. Ann smiled at the storm as she drove towards home and into the storm.

Ann turned on the radio to listen for any storm warnings. So far the radio was just playing good music so the storm wasn't bad. Probably just one of those quick pop up storms that they haven't had time to warn about yet. It was a nice back road drive from one curvy county highway to another. Ann smiled as her mind got lost in memories of the past. She smiled as she remembered joking with her brothers that some drunk guy had to of made these back roads. That was back when they first moved into Illinois over fifteen years ago. In that time Ann finished high school and lost both of her parents.

Ann let her thoughts drift as she drove her car home on the winding back roads. Memories of all the times she drove the road before, memories of her past floated by one after another. She was about 20 and she had planned on doing much more, but had settled for a calm quiet life instead of following her true passions. At one time she had dreams of being a veterinarian, cost was the main reason why she never became one. Ann sighed as a memory of watching her mother bake floated into her mind ,but then a flash of lightning made her blink and pay more attention to her surroundings.

Glancing up as lightning lit the sky again pulled her out of her thoughts completely. A light rain started to fall gently on her windshield and Ann smiled, thank God for rain-x because the wiper blades on the granny wagon didn't work right. Just another thing that need to be fixed on the old ancient car.

The rain begun to fall harder and the lightning became more intense. She had no fear of the weather after growing up near tornado alley and smiled as she thought about all the other times she drove through bad weather like this. Major storms, blizzards and tornado weather was nothing to worry about as far as she was concerned. Life was just one big adventure waiting to be explored.

It was the sudden streak of green lightning that made Ann have a small stab of fear in her stomach. She has seen blue and purple lightning, but green lightning was a first. It wasn't just a soft green light, but a very profound bright intense green.

Ann shook her head and slowed the car little. Maybe it's just a freak streak of lightning? Ann thought as she drove on.

Suddenly the sky lit up with more green lightning and the sound of the thunder it made was like no other sound she had ever heard before. It was like the sound of muffled electricity sparking out of control with deep base undertones that she could feel pulse through her body and vibrate her rear view mirror.

Ann slowed her car a little more as she gripped the wheel trying not to show fear. Ann could hardly hear normal thunder in her car while driving, but this new thunder was so powerful that it felt like being inside a giant bass drum during a rock concert. The sound of this thunder was strange and it was starting to scare Ann as she felt a cold chill when her mind started to whisper to her that this was not a normal storm.

Suddenly her car died as a soft green glow started to spread across the outside of her car. She gripped the wheel harder when the headlights and dash lights flickered out as green sparks of electricity continued to snake all around her car and dance across her knuckles making the hair on her arms stand up with goosebumps.

Ann let out a loud "Shit!" When the car died and slammed her foot into the stiff brake pedal as she tried to steer her car straight. Ann's hands were white as she gripped the steering wheel trying to control her car as it hydroplaned across the asphalt sideways.

The car came to an abrupt stop when it slammed its passenger side into a tree. Ann mumbled as she blinked her eyes trying to regain her senses. She tried to look around but only saw darkness. She could feel broken glass fall from her hair as she tried to look around. She screamed when a green bolt of lightning hit the hood of her car and her entire world lit up with blinding green light. She kept screaming as the lightning snaked its way through the broken windshield and enveloped her body shocking her with pain beyond anything she could ever imagine and passed out.

"Behold! Brothers and Sisters look before us! Atom has blessed us with a being brought from one of his many worlds!" A man's loud voice shouted as Ann started to regain her senses.

Her mouth tasted like she had sucked on pennies and cringed as every inch of her skin felt like it had a sun burn. Tears fell down her cheeks as her eyes burned from an odd heaviness in the air. Blinking to stop the burning she took a deep breath and coughed, her throat and lungs started burning with whatever was making her eyes burn.

Rubbing her eyes to make them stop burning she was able to fully open her eyes and saw she was laying on a weird metal platform with four metal supports going up on each side to meet right above her.

The sky was dark and it was still flashing with the weird green lightning. Cringing with every flash she felt her skin prickle and burn with each bright flash then fade away before another flash burned across her skin.

Ann slowly sat up and moaned as she put her hands on her pounding head. She felt like she had a major hangover, it felt like she had drank too much moonshine again. With a moan of pain she looked around to saw a bunch of people were kneeling around her. They were bowing down to her and had their hands raised up at her like she was a god.

Using one of the metal beams to pull herself up to her feet, Ann rubbed her throbbing head trying to remember how she got there. "Where am I?" she mumbled softly trying not to throw up.

"You are at the mass fusion disposal, one of Atom's holy grounds. We prayed to Atom for a miracle and he brought you here to us. You were brought through this machine by the grace and glory of Atom's will. With your help we will show others his love and glory." An old man said as he climbed up onto the platform and reached his hand out to her. Ann looked at him and cringed as the smell of him filled the air around her.

Ann looked at the man and saw he was wearing rags with a colander strapped his chest. His head was balding and his eyes were blood-shot. Ann almost puked as the foul smell of body odor mixed with urine and rotting flesh got stronger the closer he got.

Trying to ignore the powerful stench she looked around and saw they were in a wooded area with weird brownish-yellow water that bubbled and hissed under the platform that she stood on. She looked at all the yellow and white barrels that were scattered all around the place. Ann looked around with a confused look on her face as she tried to figure out why this strange place seamed somehow familiar even though she knew she had never been to this place before.

Ann was relieved to see she was wearing her hippie bag, but wondered what happened to her car as she looked around trying to find it. The crash bubbled up through her foggy mind and she wondered if maybe these people had pulled her from the crashed car.

Ann gasped as a hand grabbed her arm and startled her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see it was the horrible smelling man who had grabbed her and he was pulling her forcefully pulling her off the platform. She was too shocked and confused at first to try to pull away from him as she fell into the muck below the platform. The cold water quickly saturated her clothes as the brown water kept bubbling around her. The burning from the lightning was dull compared to how much this water was making her skin burn. She gagged and spit when some of the water sloshed up into her face as he forced her to walk through the disgusting brown water.

Ann tried to pull away as she tried to plant her feet into the mud with each forced step. "Let go of me! You're hurting me!" Ann yelled in terror as she tried to twist her arm out of his grasp.

She gasped when his hand squeezed tighter around her arm making her hand go numb and her arm hurt where his long finger nails dug deep into her skin. "You will be the mother of a new generation of Atom's followers. We will all plant the seeds of his greatness in you and you will produce Atom's perfect offspring." He said happily as he dragged her towards a group of men standing on the bank.

Eyes wide with fresh fear Ann tried to force her feet deeper into the mud. "No! You're not going to fucking touch me you sick freak!" Ann yelled out as she fought the man and gritted her teeth as she tried to pry open his vice like hand she saw blood was dripping down her arm from where his finger nails were digging painfully into her.

Ann firmly planted her feet into the muddy bank and pulled her free arm back as far as she could then slapped the man across the back of his head with every ounce of energy she had. The man was momentarily stunned and let his grasp on her loosen. Without hesitation Ann pulled her bloody arm from his grip and ran as quick as she could through the mud. One of the men on shore grabbed at her but missed as she ran by him.

Running as hard and fast as she could she quickly made it to a tree line. Tears were falling as her lungs screamed out in pain. Her whole body ached in a way she never knew it could. Ann knew she was out of shape from a recent surgery, but she also had a feeling that something wasn't right.

Running as fast as she could, she dodged massive tree roots as she tried to ignore the burning pain that was worsening in her lungs, skin and back.

She jumped when she saw a bright flash of green as the lightning storm raged harder around her. She wanted to scream with green flash that lit the sky above her as every flash made sharp burning pain flow across her exposed skin.

Sudden panic hit her when the taste of metallic blood filled her mouth and realized her nose was bleeding. She couldn't remember hitting her nose on anything, so why the hell was it bleeding?

Ann heard shouting behind her and felt her fear explode as thoughts of what might happen to her if she let them catch her flickered through her mind.

She slowed for a moment to turn her head to look back to see how far behind they were and felt her foot catch on an over grown tree root and fell hard in to the dirt knocking the wind out of her lungs.

Gasping for air she tried to breathe and struggled with her legs to stand up, but her body was now screaming with an intense pain that took every breath away. She tried to force her legs to work as the right side of her back started having sharp spasms where her kidney had been removed to get rid of her cancer less than eight months ago.

Ann cried out in fear as more blood fell from her nose and into her mouth. She wiped her arm across her face to get rid of some of the blood and wanted to scream when she saw how much she was losing.

A pair of wore out boots stepped into her vision and she looked up to see a man in rags was glaring down at her. He lifted a baseball bat high above his head.

Ann tried to scramble back as she stared at the bat and screamed in frustration when her body refused to work right. Her legs felt like jello and her body felt weaker than it should have been.

The crazed man gripped the bat as he swung it hard into the side of her head and made sickening thunk as it made contact with the side of her face. She let out a groan as everything flashed white when her head bounced back and hit the ground from force of the bat.

Crying as she laid on the ground she tried to sit up as everything spun out of control and pain took over every aspect of her being. She blinked as a giant fuzzy mass of fur and teeth jumped over her and attacked the crazed man who had just hit her. With darkness closing in on her field of vision she heard a woman's voice and gunshots.

"Good boy Dogmeat!"

She tried to get up again but felt her weak arms give out and felt cold dirt against her cheek. Feeling a sudden wave of tiredness she closed her eyes and thought how strange of a name Dogmeat was before her mind slipped into complete darkness.


	2. Changing

Ann vomited before she even knew what she was doing. Her eyes were still closed and her mind was disoriented and spinning as she tried to sit up. Ann wondered if she was waking up from another surgery. Last time she woke up like this, she was waking up from a full nephrectomy due to cancer.

Ann tried to open her eyes but they felt heavy from some kind of drug. Ann tried to move her hand to her face and felt tightly bound and hot. Ann let out a quiet moan of pain.

"Nora…She's waking up… oh crap, Nora! she puked all over the front of my power armor." A mechanical male voice said in a disgusted tone.

Ann could tell it was a man's voice that somehow sounded familiar. Ann tried to look up at him to see who he was, but her eyes were having a hard time opening. Ann realized her eye's wouldn't open because her face felt tight and swollen. When Ann shifted she realized her whole body felt swollen and stiff. Ann tried to move her arms again but they were both wrapped close to her body in something tight.

"Well, you can clean it when we get back to Sanctuary hills. She's in no condition to stop for you to wash your power armor now. If were lucky she might survive." A woman who Ann assumed to be Nora responded.

Ann tried to move again but this time sharp pains ripped across her skin and through her body. Ann felt like she was going to be sick again just from the pain.

"If you could call possibly turning into a ghoul lucky!" the man shot back at Nora yelling though what sounded like a speaker. Then in a quieter tone Ann heard him mutter under his breath, "Might be better to just put her out of her misery now then let her go through that."

Ann shivered at his words, she didn't want to die, nobody ever wanted to die. "Don't kill me, I don't want to die!" Ann responded in a quiet, groggy, gravely whisper.

Ann tried to sit up again, but she felt like she was being held down by restraints. With panic suddenly kicking in, Ann tried to fight whatever was holding her down.

"Stop moving or I'll end up dropping you." The man's voice commanded Ann as she struggled to free herself. Only to stopping as fresh pain spread like wild fire across her skin. Why was her body so week and in so much pain. Ann forced her mind to think through the pain filled fog that was getting slowly stronger. The memories of what happened were coming back slowly. Ann remembered waking up on that platform and then that horrible smelling man dragging her off through that muck.

Then she remembered hitting him to free her self, then running. She remembered the blood from her nose, the fall and then… the baseball bat that smashed into the side of her head. Maybe she having a concussion from the baseball bat that had hit her head. That would only explain why her face was swollen, but that didn't explain the intense pain that was slowly spreading like wild fire across her skin and in her body.

Ann started to cry, but the tears made her eyes and face burn. Ann tried to shake her head and whispered in a groggy voice, "I just want to go home." Ann moaned quietly. She could feel her body warming up like she was having a high fever.

Ann felt a soft hand touch her face "The chems must be wearing off. Put her down for a moment so I can give her a fresh stimpack and talk to her." An heard Nora's voice tell the man.

Ann felt herself being lowered and was set down on a hard surface. Ann felt strong hands supporting her by her shoulders helping her to sit up. Ann tried to look up, but was struggling with her weakened neck and was having a hard time doing so. She heard a dog whimper as she felt it sniffing her face. "What have you done to me?" Ann asked groggily as she tried to open her eyes again. This time having some luck as she could only see a dark blurry shape in front of her.

"My name is Nora, We saved you from the children of Atom followers. We tried all we could, but you absorbed an excessive amount of radiation. I'm really sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, But You're suffering from advanced radiation poisoning. We had used all our rad packs we had to keep you from dyeing, but it wasn't enough to remove all the radiation from your system. I've been giving you stimpacks laced with ultra Jet for your pain, but the radiation in your system won't let the stimpacks heal you right. We're taking you to one of my settlements where you can get help. I have a friend there named Curie who might be able to keep you from at least becoming a feral ghoul."

Ann's mind went blank as she tried to remember what a feral ghoul was. The fog in her mind was thick and it was hard trying to think through the pain.

Ann felt the woman pull open on what was covering the front of her. Ann gasped and shivered as fresh pain on her exposed skin respond to the cold air.

"I'm sorry sister, but we had to remove your clothes, they were so soaked in radiation they would have just made you sicker. We're going to run your bag and clothes through the rad scrubber in vault 81 on our way north."

Ann felt uncomfortable being so exposed and mumbled. Trying to get her mouth to work was like talking with peanut butter in her mouth. Ann felt a gentle touch on her shoulder "Don't worry I've got you wrapped in a blanket to keep you covered." Ann could hear Nora rummaging through something.

Ann had to hold down another strong wave of nausea when her skin started burning with sudden searing pain as a cold breeze blew across her exposed skin. The fiery pain she felt before felt like it was burning hotter as her skin responded to the cold air.

Ann shivered and let out a moan as she turned to where she last heard Nora. "Why do I feel so hot?" Ann asked as she felt the rest of the blanket being pulled away from her arm. Ann screamed in pain as part of her skin slid away with the fabric. Ann couldn't hold down the nausea this time and puked yellow bile.

"Shit!" Ann herd the woman whisper as Ann took deep breaths to help calm her self and make the pain filled nausea stop.

Ann felt the strong hands on her back shift as whoever was holding her moved. "Nora, I don't think she's goin….."

"Shut the fuck up Danse!" Nora hissed, Ann felt the hands on her shoulders jerk. "She doesn't need to hear that kind of talk right now." Ann heard Nora snap back at the man. Ann gasped when she felt a sharp sting in her right arm then a hiss. All the pain on her skin and inside her body faded away after that.

In a softer voice Ann heard Nora ask, "If you don't mind my asking sister, what's your name?" Ann felt like she was floating now. All the pain was gone, better yet, all sense of feeling was now gone. Ann relaxed as her body and mind both felt wonderfully numb.

Ann could feel herself falling into an unwanted sleep as whatever she was injected with started to take stronger effect. Then somewhere in her drugged mind Ann managed a week smile as she remembered where she's heard the name Danse.

"My name is Ann." Ann answered Nora with a week smile.

Then Ann tried to turn her head to look at Danse, but gave up when her stiff neck wouldn't let her. "Have you ever played fallout four? There's a guy named Danse in it also." Ann almost laughed as she could feel the drugs making her loopy. "I didn't like Danse at the beginning of the game. But then the poor guy found out he was a synth, a kind of robot. If that wasn't enough of a blow that Elder Maxson ass ordered my character to kill him. Thank God I had high enough charisma and was able to convince him to let Danse live. Danse turned out to be a nice guy, he was still an asshole at times, but he has the right to live…like…a… normal huma…" Ann finally succumbed to the drugs and slumped back into Danse's hands.

Nora and Danse were too shocked to move. They looked at each other then down to the woman sitting on the ground wrapped in a blanket. There was no way they heard what she just said.

Danse took off his helmet with a loud hiss and took a deep breath as he looked at Nora.

Nora shrugged her shoulders as she shook her head, "Maybe she has the sight like Mama Murphy did?" Nora said as she gently placed Ann's arm back into the blanket so as not to injure her skin anymore then it already was. Nora then secured the blanket closed. The woman skin was burning hot to the touch and she was shivering hard at the same time. Nora looked at the woman with worry on her face. This woman was well on her way to becoming a ghoul. Her skin had blistered and swelled so much from the radiation, it was now starting to fall off with the slightest touch. Nora realized this is why the ghouls were always covered in thick scars all over their bodies. With a shiver she remembered all the scars on Hancock's body and knew he had gone through the same thing before she met him.

Nora could tell this woman was definitely not from around the commonwealth. Her clothes were mostly normal yet strange. When they got to her she was wearing blue jeans and a black shirt with a man wearing a red suit riding a horse with a horn printed on it. What baffled Nora the most was the tattoo on her back. Nora knew it couldn't be possible but part of her tattoo resembled her friend, John Hancock. Nora had covered it before Danse could see it.

Nora watched Dogmeat stand up from where he was laying next to the woman and whined again when he sniffed at her face. Nora ran her hand across his soft fur to reasure him. "We're trying to help her the best we can boy." Nora said softly as she scratched the soft fur between his ears above his eyes.

Danse shook his head as he looked down at the woman. He then looked at his helmet and ran his fingers across some of the deep scratches that only he knew the stories of. "What she spoke of was the past, not the future." Danse said as he put his helmet back on and gently picked Ann up in his arms. Thanks to his newly modified T-60 power armor she weighed little to nothing. She was short and heavy for a woman her size. Her hair fell to about the mid part of her back and it was an odd shade of red with dark brown roots. There was a faint pink streak under the back side. If Danse had to guess she was about a little over five foot tall just looking at her. As he shifted her in his arms to help make her comfortable he noticed with dread that some of her hair had fell off with some of her scalp attached. Danse shook his head. He didn't like the thoughts that his brotherhood instincts were trying to tell him he needed to do.

"Nora, you know what will have to be done if she turns feral right?" Danse asked Nora as they continued to move foreword.

Nora let out a sigh as she walked. "I know Danse, but we have to try to give her some kind of chance at life." Nora answered as she was thinking back at how they found her in the first place.

Dance and her were at the slog helping with repairing the defenses when a call for help was placed from the Outpost Zimonga settlement. When they were finally able to get there, they found they were too late. Everyone was dead from extreme radiation poisoning. That fact alone told her the Children of Atom were somehow involved. Worse yet, all the equipment that Nora had built to teleport her self to the institute years ago was now missing. It was Danse's idea to travel to the Glowing Sea and ask Mother Isolde if she knew anything.

It was on their way down to the Glowing sea that a major rad storm blow in from out of nowhere. In a flash of green lightning, Nora saw it strike the top of the teleportation pad above the trees by the mass fusion dump sight. Nora swallowed some rad-x pills and motioned for Dogmeat and Danse to follow her quietly. Slowly they made there way closer to get a better view of what the Children of Atom were doing.

When they got closer Nora could finally see what the Children of Atom had done with her equipment. They had rebuilt it all in the center of the radiation filled pond where mass fusion had been dumping their radiated waste hundreds of years ago.

Another sudden blinding streak of green lightning hit the empty teleportation pad. Where there was just nothing moments ago, now lay a woman. Nora and Danse hid themselves behind an old transport truck and watched speechless as the poor woman got up and looked around.

They watched as one of the Children of Atom grabbed her arm aggressively and pulled her off the platform and through the radiated pond. She fought him as he pulled her to the edge of the pond where the other followers stood waiting with ropes. She was finally able to free herself after slapping the man hard across the back of his head dazing him. Nora pulled her gun out when the woman turned and ran in their direction with the Children of Atom hot on her heels. Nora watched with cold dread as she saw how the woman ran, she could tell the woman was starting to suffer from radiation poisoning. As she ran her movements became more and more sluggish. Nora watched in quiet horror as the woman's nose started pouring out blood, she was slowly dying from the extreme radiation exposure.

The woman tripped and fell as she tried to look behind her, pure fear was etched on her face. Nora heard Danse pulling out his gun and cock it as One of the Children of Atom caught up to her and pulled back the base ball bat he was holding. Before Nora could get out her .44 up, he slammed the woman hard in the head with the baseball bat. The sound it made was sickening. That's when Dogmeat sprinted forward and ran into the man viciously tackling him to the ground. Nora praised Dogmeat as she pulled out her .44 and finished the man off. She then helped Danse finish off the rest of the Children of Atom that had followed.

Nora knew they had to help the woman. It's not everyday you see someone just appear out of thin air.

Nora was pulled from her thoughts when she almost tripped on a rock. Without stopping she spoke to Danse, "We're stopping at Vault 81 first to see if they can do anything for her. From there we can radio to GoodNeighbor and have Hancock and Daisy meet us at sanctuary." Nora heard a bush rustle and she put her hand on her snubnosed .44 out and was ready to cover Danse as he carried the woman if anything attacked them. She watched as a bird flew out and away.

Nora relaxed slightly and kept walking forward. Thankfully there were less raiders and gunners running through the commonwealth. Now that there were more and more Minutemen joining her cause each day. Most of them being former raiders or gunners wanting a better life.

Danse kept a steady pace with Nora as he looked at the Ann then back at Nora. "Why not leave her at vault 81? Why do we need that gho…" Danse growled, "Hancock?" Danse had to work hard on not saying 'that ghoul' when talking about Hancock or any ghoul for that matter. Life outside of the Brotherhood was a big adjustment for Danse to get used to. Civilian life was hard to become accustomed to after being exiled. Danse had come to accept the fact that he was a synth. He realized that as a synth he would be able to live longer and protect more people from the fucked up world they all now lived in. Remembering what Ann had said Danse looked at Nora. "I remember the argument you and Arthur had before he banished me."

Nora sighed as she was remembering the Prydwyn also. She was able to get Haylen and that damn cat out of the blimp before destroying it. Nora often wondered if she had done the right thing in destroying it with elder Maxson in it. "Danse I'm sorry for what I had to do…"

Danse shock his head even though he knew Nora wouldn't see, "No apologies needed Nora, you did what you had to do to protect the ones you love and care for."

Nora stopped and turned to Danse making him almost run into her. "Yeah, but Danse, there were good people on that ship… People who had lives of there own, loved ones they were working to protect and take care of themselves." Nora shook her head to help clear her thoughts as she turned and continued to walk for vault 81.

Danse followed his friend. Nora had been so upset after taking down Elder Maxson and the Prydwyn. The man left her with no choice though, he was threatening to destroy the Rail road and everyone she loved. If Maxson was willing to kill people for just being sympathetic towards synths then who was next? Nora knew it would only be a matter of time before he would have ordered her to kill the non feral ghouls, the people of GoodNeighbor and any other being not meeting his ideals.

Nora let out a weary sigh. "Danse, if I know the dwellers of 81, they won't like the idea of having someone there who could possibly turn into a feral ghoul. I might be able to barter some stuff to get her more Rad-X and stimpacks, but don't think they will even let her in through the gate." Nora said as she watched Dogmeat walk ahead of her. "I need Hancock and Daisy at Sanctuary to help us with her if she doesn't become feral. She will probably need some kind of support to help her cope with..." Nora tried to imagine what it must be like living as a ghoul. She never had the courage to ask any ghoul she knew out of respect.

Ann was in darkness again. This was different though, it felt like like her body was floating through space and time. Ann tried to close her eyes but found that it didn't matter if her eyes were open or closed she still saw the same inky darkness. She felt alone and scared and tried to call out, but found her voice was here, there and everywhere.

"Hello?" Nothing.

Ann blinked and found herself standing at an entrance to a carnival. Ann stood staring at the gates scared. She knew this place was unnatural.

Ann jumped when she heard a soft voice behind her. "Well, are we just going to stand here or are we going to go in?" the soft spoken voice behind her asked.

When Ann turned to face the owner of the voice she saw a man with glowing amber eyes. He wore a worn fedora and an old trench coat that looked like it was getting ready to fall apart at any given moment.

With a startled nervous laugh Ann reached out to touch the old man to see if he was real and recoiled back when her hand went through his shoulder.

He laughed as he took off his fedora and nodded at her. "No, I'm not real, I'm here to help you through to your next destination." He said with a smile and a wink. Ann stared at those piercing amber eyes and nodded.

Ann's eyes went wide when she recognized the voice and the eyes. "Nick Valentine?" Ann asked as she looked at him. He didn't look like a synth from the game but stood before her as a real man with glowing amber eyes.

He put his hat back on and shrugged his shoulders. "Why not, it makes perfect sense since your clueless and Nick Valentine finds clues." Nick answered Ann as he walked forward through the carnival gates. "You coming or are you just going to stand there and stare at my backside?"

Ann hesitated for a moment, then had to walk quickly to catch up to Nick.

As she followed Nick she saw they passed booths that had many weird things in each of them. One booth was covered with dust and cobwebs. Through the dust Ann realized it was old Pokémon memorabilia. Another had fish swimming in various glass containers. A white catfish stared at her with blank eyes as she walked past.

Another booth had a huge throne sitting in the back of it that was made up of various swords from various movies and games. Ann saw Squalls gun blade, Kenpachies tore up sword, the Master sword link used in Ocarina of time, Ichigos Zanpacto. There were more swords, but Ann noticed a three eyed raven that was perched on the hilt of cloud's giant sword that made the back of the massive throne. The raven looked at her and gave out a shrill cry as it flew at her face then veered away at the last moment before nearly flying into her.

When Ann looked back at Nick she saw he was far ahead and ran to catch back up with him.

Ann passed a booth that was starting to crumble and Ann stopped running. When she looked into it she was shocked to see her friends and family through the back window. They were all standing around a casket covered in flowers. Ann couldn't see who they were mourning for and stepped closer into the both for a better view into the casket. What she saw made her stop and gasp.

Ann realized she was looking at her self. This couldn't be right. How was this even possible Ann thought.

Ann felt a gentle hand on her shoulder "You ask how this is possible?" Nick asked as he took a few steps closer.

Ann nodded her head and put her hand on the cold glass, "How did you know?… Yeah Nick, tell me how this is possible." Ann said as she stared at the casket being closed.

Nick pulled his hand back and turned away from Ann and walked out of the booth. "I have the faintest clue." was all she heard him say.

Ann turned from the glass and watched Nick walk away from her. "I thought you were thee Nick Valentine, here to help me find clues?" Ann asked as she looked back out the window and watched as her coffin was lowered into the grave. "Does this mean I died?" Ann asked not wanting to accept the truth.

"In that world you did." Nick walked back out of the ruined both and waited for Ann.

Ann shook her head and stepped back from the window. "World? what do you mean by that?" Ann asked as she had to quickly ran back out of the booth when it suddenly started to collapse on top of her.

Nick smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Follow me and maybe you might piece things together." Nick walked on and Ann turned from the now destroyed booth to follow him.

Nick suddenly stopped at a red door and turned to Ann to give her a nod. "This is where I leave you." And with that Nick simply disappeared.

Ann walked up to the door and touched the doorknob.

"Oh, there's going to be some major fucked up shit behind that door." Came a voice from behind Ann making her jump.

Ann turned quickly around and saw Dead pool standing there like it was the most normal thing in the world.

He was leaning on an old booth filled with old comic books and DVD's. "Oh, I know what your thinking, what kind of messed up shit is this?" Dead pool asked as he stood up and skipped towards Ann. "I bet the people reading this are probably thinking; I thought I was reading a Fan fic about Fallout 4 and here I'm reading about some messed up-drug induced-mind fuck!" Dead pool said to no-one Ann could see as he continued to skip over to the door and leaned on it.

"Well I'm here to let every everyone know that yes this is indeed a fan fic about me, Dead pool, and it just got labeled wrong." Dead pool put his hands on his hips and let out an exaggerated laugh. "Ah, I'm just fucking with you all. Don't worry, this is still a fan fic about Fallout 4. When this shitty chapter is finished you'll understand things better. I also couldn't wait for the first chapter of my fallout-Dead pool cross over to be written so I just had to drop into this one. Oh, and hey rustbucket1, thanks for being the first person to favorite this story. That was so totally awesome of you." Dead pool used his hands to form a heart in front of his chest.

Ann had a puzzled look on her face. "Who are you talking to?" she asked as she looked around for someone.

Deadpool looked at ann and exagerated a jump of surprise. "Oh, Hi there Ann forgot you were there, I was just talking to our readers, because you know forth wall breaking and all. Any who, shits gonna get really fucked up once you go through that door. Your going to end up looking more fucked up then me." Dead pool opened the door and motioned like a perfect gentleman for her to enter "Tits first my lady."

Ann walked through the door and saw she was in a smoke filled gypsy room. When she looked around she saw an old lady sitting at a table smiling at her. When Ann turned to look at Dead pool she saw he was gone.

The old woman put out a cigarette and looked at Ann. "It's ok dearie, he was only here to help you transition from the last part of your old life and to the beginning of a new one." Ann's face lit up when she recognized who the woman was. She was Mama Murphy.

Mama Murphy picked up another cigarette and lit it. When she lit the lighter the room lit up as hundreds of candles flickered to life. Ann saw a beautiful ornate mirror on the far wall. Mama murphy leaned closer to Ann and motioned for her to listen. "listen to me for a moment dear while I explain things to you. They won't make much sense now, but they will in the coming chapters of your life" Mama Murphy smiled and pointed at the mirror. It was huge and greatly ornate. "You will lose all of what you hold dear to your heart, but don't worry, things do have a way of coming back to you precisely when they need to." Mama Murphy then pointed at the Mirror again "Now, it's time for you to bring me that mirror, and dear, an remember, things happen for a reason." Mama murphy took a long drag of her cigarette and motioned for Ann to hurry.

Ann watched her self in the mirror as she walked over to it. The mirror was towering over her and appeared to stand 7 feet tall. Ann looked at herself in the mirror. She wasn't a beautiful woman by any means, but she wasn't ugly either. Ann was startled a bit when her mirror image smiled at her and waved like it was saying goodbye. Ann shook her head and rubbed her eyes. When she looked back at the mirror it was back to acting like a normal mirror.

It took her a moment to lift it off the wall but she managed it. Ann started to walk it back over to Mama Murphy.

Ann felt the top edge of the mirror catch one of the curtains with a sick feeling in her stomach. Before Ann could do anything to stop what was about to happen, the mirror slipped from her grasp and it fell to the floor with a defining crash.

Ann looked down at the shattered mirror and saw it had broken into thousands of tiny little razor sharp shards. Ann recoiled in horror as every tiny piece of glass started to bleed and ooze out blood.

Ann looked up and saw Mama Murphy was gone and the curtain that had caught the mirror was now falling into a group of candles. Ann lunged to catch the curtain but tripped on one of the ornate rugs. Ann screamed in panic as she fell onto the glass shards.

Ann tried to get up but everywhere she tried to put her hands down they were being sliced open painfully with glass.

Suddenly the room lit up in flames as the curtain finally fell onto the burning candles.

Ann screamed as she felt the fire and glass dig and burn into her skin.

Nora and Danse had made it to vault 81. Nora immediately placed a call on the radio to GoodNeighbor. And like Nora had predicted, the vault over seer refused to let the woman in, but they did agree to run the woman's belongings through the rad scrubber. By this point nearly all her hair had mostly fell out and she had started to bleeding from her eyes nose and ears as every cell in her body begun to mutate.

Nora told Danse to run ahead with the woman to get her to Sanctuary faster. It took him a few hours, but when they got to the bridge he saw Hancock was somehow already standing there waiting for them.

He threw a cigarette but into the water and walked up to Danse to greet him. "Got here fast as I could, rough business turning into a ghoul." As to prove Hancock right, the woman that was in Danse's arms started to scream as her skin started to split open and bleed from the radiation burns and mutations.

Hancock shook his head. "And now her hell begins."


	3. Rebirth

Hancock cringed when the woman started screaming. He had been too high and out of it to remember much of his turning into a ghoul, but he had talked to enough other ghouls to know that he had been extremely lucky to have missed out on all of it. He looked up to see nearly half the settlers of Sanctuary come running to the sounds of her screams, but went back to what they had been doing when they saw Danse and Hancock were already helping the source of the screams. The settlers had already been informed of the woman and her condition and none of them wanted to be around if things turned out bad.

Hancock looked down at the water under the bridge they were standing on and nodded at the water. "Danse. Put her in the water, it'll help." Hancock turned to follow Danse and bumped into him.

Danse stood there as he shook his head and scoffed at Hancock. "What? How fucking high are you? The water is full of radiation and who knows what." Danse shook his head again and mumbled "Idiot." quietly. He turned away from Hancock and started to walk across the bridge in to the settlement. He felt Hancock grab the back of his power armor jerk him back.

Danse just stood there fuming that Hancock of all people would touch him.

Hancock held on to the back of Danse's power armor and spoke in a low threatening voice that he rarely ever used. "I'm always fucking high and I know the fucking water is full of radiation Danse. The radiation will help her heal some now that she has gone past the point of what we ghouls call, no return. " Hancock let go of Danse's power armor when Danse had turned to glare at the ghoul through his helmet. The woman was still screaming in agony in his arms.

Hancock took a step closer and pointed his finger dangerously at Danse's face. "Look fuck face, Nora called me on the damn radio to come and help! If your not going to listen to me then what the fuck, lets just kill her now and get this shit done with. Because every moment you waste standing her in a fucking pissing contest we lose more of her sanity, the very sanity that will keep her from being a fucking feral."

Danse huffed at Hancock and held the woman with one arm wrapped around her. Danse took his helmet off and threw it at Hancock and saw him duck as he held on to the woman with both arms and jumped off the bridge landing with a large splash into the water below. He lowered her into the water and was shocked to see the water turn red with her blood. It was seeping from every pore and wound on her body and was flowing from the blanket Nora had used to cover her body.

Nora had covered her with it as soon as she removed the woman's clothes and saw her skin was starting to develop the blistering sores. Nora had left the woman's under garments on, mostly out of modesty. It wasn't until they had stopped to give her more chems for her pain after she woke up that he fully understood the severity of the situation.

He had never seen someone turn into a ghoul, nor did he wont to. He was from the Brotherhood of steel and if there was a ghoul they just shot it on sight immediately, didn't matter if they were feral or not. A ghoul was a ghoul. Others in the brotherhood had a saying, the only good ghoul was a dead ghoul. Being exiled out of the Brotherhood was a major life change for him. He had to rethink nearly everything he had been trained to believe.

Danse watched amazed as the woman's agonizing screams quieted into deep ragged breaths. She breathing like she had just got done running from a Deathclaw. Danse held her head above the water as he knelt down in the water with her and happened to look up at her face for the first time since they rescued her. He saw her eye's were open and Danse could look into them. They were blood shot and blood was falling out of them like tears. He was startled to see her eyes were different colors and were beautiful. One was a dull grayish green and the other was a light hazel. They were glazed and distant, it was like her soul was no longer there. He then looked at her skin and saw places where it had split open before and was now starting to slowly heal with angry pink scars.

Danse heard a splash and looked up to see Hancock holding his helmet and was walking thorough the water to stand next to him and looked down at the woman. "Radiation heals ghouls, had she of still been human plunging her into the water would have just killed her. From what Nora explained, you guys kept her alive by removing just enough radiation to keep her from dying. Had you guys of just left her she probably would of died a quick painless death, she would have passed out before the worst of it." Hancock laughed in a mock somber tone of voice and continued to talk. "Congratulations Danse you helped make my kind one more strong." Hancock gave Danse a pat on his power armor shoulder. "An I'm proud to tell you it's a girl." Hancock held a cigar out to Danse.

Danse had froze when he felt Hancock's touch. "Don't ever touch me ghoul." Danse turned his head to Hancock ignoring the cigar. "How did you know she was already becoming a ghoul?"

Hancock lit the cigar and inhaled it slowly smiling as he answered Danse. Each word leaving his mouth as a tiny cloud. "I didn't."

Hancock and Dance both turned when they heard footsteps approaching. "What the hell are you two doing?" It was Preston with Curie and Macready following behind them. They all had there guns out and ready to shoot trouble if there was any.

Preston looked at Danse and nodded at him. "Is that the woman Nora radioed in about?" Preston asked as he put his hand out to Hancock to help him out of the water. Danse picked up the woman and noticed she was somehow lighter. He figured she would be heavier with the water soaking into the blanket around her.

He didn't need help getting out and used his jet pack to get them back on the shore. Curie quickly walked up to the woman in Danse's arms and checked her vitals. She talked In her thick French accent. " oui She is very warm no, her heart, is beating very fast. We need to get her into the safe house we have set up for her." Curie turned and walked ahead of Danse leading him to one of the houses that still stood even after the bombs fell.

When they got to the house he noticed the windows were boarded over and the door had been refitted with a thick door and a heavy chain on the inside.

Hancock had already walked up to the house while Curie had been taking the woman's vitals and had opened the door to let everyone in. Danse saw Daisy sitting on the couch in the front room. She smiled at him and waved to be polite. Danse nodded politely back at her. She was a sweet woman at heart even after all the horrible things he had said to her when they first met, he was still a paladin at that time. Hancock quickly turned to Curie. "Thanks for the chems love, but we got it from here. The less people we have in here the less of a disaster it might be if she becomes feral." Hancock gently pushed a stuttering Curie out the door and chained it shut as soon as she was out.

Danse looked at Hancock "Hay! you don't need to lock her out like that."

Hancock put a hand to his head and shook it as he closed his eyes. "I'm not locking her out, I'm locking us in. This is going to be a rough night for all of us, that woman in your arms most of all if we are to keep her from becoming feral, an if she does go feral… I want people who can handle them selves to take care of what needs to be done. Curie's one hell of a synth, but with her emotions being so raw still, I don't want her first experience of pain and guilt to be on my watch." He went on around the house to make sure the boarded windows in each of the rooms were secure.

Danse shifted as he looked for a place to lay woman down. Danse noticed she was still soaked and was dripping water all over the floor. "With you and Daisy here there is really no need for me to be here." Danse said when he realized Hancock had locked him in with them.

Hancock let out a deep chuckle "No Danse your right. There is no neeed for you to be here, but I think you neeeed to see how someone turns ghoul, maybe you might learn a thing or two."

Daisy walked up to Danse and placed her hands on the woman's face. "She's loosing a lot of fluid, poor thing, we need to get her to the tub." Daisy walked away from Danse and down a hallway. Danse followed into the bathroom and laid the woman down into the tub. "I thought she was still wet from the creek?" Danse stood up and looked at daisy. "Do you think she has a chance to be like… you and Hancock?"

Daisy smiled and shook her head. "You never know until the proses is done if someone's going to turn or not. We don't really know what causes someone to go through all this shit and not all be feral." Daisy looked down at the woman in the tub. She had started moaning in pain again. "She needs irradiated blood to help replace the fluids she's losing. Going through all this going to take a toll on her body. She's mutating and what her body doesn't need anymore is getting pushed out through that fluid she's technically sweating out. Go ask Hancock for a few bags of irradiated blood while I get her settled, oh and gat a dry blanket also dearie."

Daisy watched Danse leave the bathroom and she walked over to the woman in the tub. Daisy didn't have the heart to tell Danse this woman was on the brink of already being feral. Daisy had a feeling that he was worried about her. There was really nothing anyone could do to prevent someone from going feral. It was all up to the person if they were to become feral or not. She remembered when the bombs fell and waking up in a pile of rubble. Her skin and body hurt but she was somehow alive and not feral. The memories of what went on in between the bombs and waking up were hazy and full of pain.

All she knew, is that when she woke up she felt like she had given up something about her self for this new life. It wasn't like a faded memory, but a hollow pain of loss she felt on a deeper level. The pain would flicker like a fire in her chest at the look of a painting, the sound of a song, but worst of all when she read books. When She talked to other ghouls that were like her self they all had the same odd feelings, but over different things.

Daisy walked over to the woman and unwrapped the wet blanket from her. Daisy cringed as some of her skin had stuck to the blanket when it healed. She had to reopen a few wounds to remove the blanket. She sat the woman forward to get the blanket out from under her when She saw a faint tattoo on her back. By now it had mostly been replaced with raw new skin. Daisy traced the lines of the tattoo with her fingers. There was no mistaking the resemblance it had to Hancock.

Daisy tilted her head to the bathroom door and yelled. "Hey John! you need to see this." She draped the blanket over the front of the woman and supported her so Hancock could see the tattoo her back.

Hancock walked into the room "Did ya find a third nipple or…." Hancock stopped when he saw the tattoo. There was no fucking way. Tattoos were rare in the commonwealth. Those that did exist were crude and simple in design. This one was highly detailed and even though most of it had been replaced by scar tissue he could clearly see the frock coat, tri-corn hat and his ghoulish face. Next to that was some freak in a red full body suit. "What the Fuck is that shit?" Hancock was holding a few bags of irradiated blood. He set them down and walked over to the tub. "At least I look good, I'm gonna have to ask her where she got that done so I can get one myself." Hancock and Daisy let out a dry laugh as they knew ghoul skin is too rough and callused for tattoos.

Danse peeked his head around the door way. He had taken his power armor off and had left it in the front room. He was wearing a grey mechanic jumpsuit. He had long ago gotten rid of his orange brotherhood jump suit that he normally wore. Besides the mechanic suit was so much more comfortable in this early fall heat. Danse walked through the door and saw Hancock was staring at the woman's back. He had heard Daisy call for him. "What's wrong?"

Hancock laughed "It looks like she's a fan of mine, though why any one would want a tattoo of this ugly face is beyond me. Where did you guys fucking find her anyway? Nora was a bit vague on the details." Hancock turned to Danse, grabbed the blanket from him and handed it to Daisy. "Mind taking first watch while we go talk love?"

Danse caught a glimpse of the tattoo on her back and he wondered the same thing Hancock had.

Daisy smiled and shook her head. "I don't mind John, right now she's just sweating out her old cells to make way for the new ones." Daisy prided her self on what medical knowledge she had as she propped the woman up in the bathtub and placed a small straw pillow under her head. She waited for the men to leave before switching out the blankets.

Hancock and Danse went to the front room. Hancock walked to the kitchen and came back with two beers and a jet inhaler. Hancock had asked for the house to be stocked with beer, food and medical supplies. It was the compromise that he and Preston agreed upon. Preston was the one that wanted the house secured. Hancock hated being locked up like this let alone with an ass hole like Danse. That had been a spur of the moment idea that Hancock thought of. Hancock had decided to lock Danse in here after what had happened back at the bridge. Hancock figured that maybe if Danse saw what someone had to go through to become a ghoul, that maybe Danse would be a little more tolerant towards his kind.

Hancock saw Danse sitting in the red over stuffed recliner. He handed Danse a beer and walked over to the couch where he sprawled his self out and popped the top off his beer with the edge of the coffee table. Hancock looked at Danse for an answer to his question he had asked in the bathroom.

Danse told Hancock everything. About the missing equipment, the children of Adam at the dump site, how the woman just appeared on the platform. How they had gave her all the rad away just to keep her alive. Danse then shifted and leaned for word in his seat as he took a drink of his beer. " When the chem's wore off she woke up. She fought me to sit up, but her skin was swollen and she was still kind of out of it. I finally had to set her down so Nora could give her more chem's to calm her down." He felt a bit of regret as he remembered what the woman said to him after he said something about putting her down. "She said her name was Ann after Nora explained things to her. Nora yelled at me after I had tried to tell her the truth of the situation. Nora then gave her a strong dose of ultra jet laced with a stimpack, then she said the weirdest thing before passing back out..." Danse had to take another drink of beer before continuing. "She said she knew another man named Danse From something called Fallout 4. That the Danse in the game was a complete asshole and that she didn't like him at first. She said she felt bad for him after he found out he was a synth, and that Elder Maxson had ordered her character to kill him. She said She didn't, but by this point the chems had kicked in and she passed out." Danse had finished his beer quicker then he expected to. He still couldn't believe what she had said.

Hancock smiled "Ann thought you were an ass hole? I'm liking her more and more and I haven't even got to talk to her yet. At least she has a name now. Ann…short and to the point. Definitely not a common name you hear in the commonwealth these day's." Hancock saw Danse was a little upset about what the woman had said about him. "Ya know, those Atom people believe in alternate world's right?"

Danse shook his head then looked at Hancock. "What are talking about Hancock?"

Hancock tapped the mouth piece of the jet inhaler on his lips trying to remember. "When Nora and I walked thorough the glowing sea to find Virgil we came across a children of Atom compound. We talked to a woman named Mother Isolde. She spoke about Atom being in many world's." Hancock didn't care much about the children of Atom nor did he like them. They were weird and way out there. He only tolerated them because they treated him with like a normal person just because they believed he and all the other non feral ghouls had been touched by Atom's divine light.

Danse remembered Mother Isolde. He had gone with Nora to give Virgil his serum after she came back from the institute. And had got to meet her when they stopped for supplies. "Are you suggesting that woman…" Danse pointed at the bathroom. "comes from one of these other world's? That's insane." Danse got up and walked to the kitchen and got another beer. He wasn't a big fan of alcohol, but after remembering what the woman had said he felt like he needed to drink another beer to dull the painful memories she had brought back. He could hear Hancock still talking to him from the front room.

"Think about it man, Ann's got a tattoo of me on her back, she knew practically your entire life story, and the biggest clue of all would be her just appearing out of no where on that platform, not to mention the children of Atom were involved, who just so happen to believe in other world's."

Danse walked back with a beer in hand and started to sit.

Hancock nodded at the beer in Danse's hand. "Hey man, proper drinking etiquette states your supposed to bring the other person a beer. Ya feel me."

Danse sat in the chair and opened his beer. "That's if your drinking buddies, we are not buddies, and no I don't feel you and I don't ever wont to. Let's get this straight. I'm here only because I need to be. I'm not here to drink and party. You might think this is a light matter but it's not. Don't think I won't hesitate to shoot that woman if she becomes feral. That's why I'm not calling her by her name until she wakes up and I know she not feral." He then took a drink of his beer.

Hancock was impressed with the skill Danse hid his soft side by coming off as a complete fucking ass hole. Hancock knew it was harder to put something down if it had a name. He popped a mentat into his mouth then took a hit from his inhaler. Hancock let the smoke flow out of his mouth as he spoke. "Wake me when it's my turn to watch… Ann." Hancock watched as Danse's mouth twitched when he had said her name. Hancock then pulled his hat down over his face and laid back into the couch to get some rest.

Daisy sat and watched over the woman. She was hot to the touch and was still sweating hard. Several hours had gone by before she heard a tap at the door. She looked up to see Danse. "If you want, I can take over and you can go rest." Danse walked into the room and handed her a beer.

Daisy took it and stood up. "That's nice of you Danse, never thought I'd see you be nice to a ghoul."

Danse smiled as he sat in the chair Daisy was just sitting in. "I'm not being nice to a ghoul. That would ruin my reputation, I'm just offering beer to a lady is all. How is She?" Danse asked as he looked at the woman. He was shocked to see she looked smaller, thinner.

Daisy took a drink of her beer and shook her head. "She's still sweating out her old cells. She's also getting warmer which means she's going to be at critical soon." It's been years since Daisy saw someone turn ghoul. It's not something she would soon forget. "Here's a cloth I've been using to keep the sweat out of her eye's, I'll go get a fresh bowl of water for you to dip it in." Daisy picked up a bowl that had been full of water and handed Danse the cloth. He looked at the cloth then at the woman.

Danse sat there for a moment. He saw her skin was pink, raw and angry. He thought Hancock and other ghouls had bad skin, but this was the worst looking hes seen so far. Danse figured it was probably because the skin was freshly wounded and not fully healed and scarred like the others yet. He reached over and started blotting the sweat off her face. "I don't " she mumbled In a quiet mumble. Danse pulled back startled.

Danse jumped when he heard Daisy's voice behind him. "She's been mumbling things more and more as her fever peeks." Daisy had brought back a bowl of water and placed it next to Danse. "She mumbles about not wanting to be here, or not wanting to die." Daisy then turned to walk out the door and stopped and turned to look at Danse. "Call for me if anything changes." Daisy walked out.

Danse dipped the cloth into the water and continued to blot the woman's face. Compared to how she was screaming at the bridge she seemed almost peaceful now.

Danse understood now why they had put her in a tub. The fluids that she was sweating we're going down the drain . It didn't smell bad or anything, but was tinged red as it flowed across the porcelain to the drain. He finally realized the smell reminded him of how blood smelled. Daisy said something about loosing cells. He wondered if she meant blood cells or DNA.

As he wiped her face he could feel the heat of her skin through the cloth. Danse sat with her for hours not knowing exactly how many went by. He was dipping the cloth into the water when her body went rigged. She sat up and opened her eye's and stared at the wall like she saw something there. Her hand shot out from under the blanket and gripped Danse's arm in a death grip. Her hand so hot it almost felt like it was burning him "Don't let it kill me!" she whispered in a terrified voice as she fell back into the tub her eye's rolled up and she started to shake violently.

 ** _{Ann had awoke lying face first on a cold black granite floor. The cold floor felt good against her skin. The memory of the gypsy room filled with glass and flames were still fresh in her head. She remembered screaming in agony as she cried out for help. She remembered the room suddenly filling with water stopping the pain. When the room emptied of the water she passed out on the just laid there not wanting to get up or move._**

 ** _"Bloody fucking hell, how long are you going to stay down there?" the voice was thick with a British accent. Ann kind of recognized the voice and tried to remember who it was. She sat up not wanting to see her skin, but was surprised to see her self unharmed._**

 ** _"Bout bloody time you got up love, been waiting awhile now." Ann looked in the direction of the voice. She wanted to melt._**

 ** _She saw a tall, thin, but muscular man standing almost over her. He was wearing a long black duster. His face was pale, chiseled and had a defiant look to it. Ann looked at the combed back bleach blond hair that gave away who he was. He extended his hand out to her. Ann took a deep breath then exhaled as she reached out and grasped his hand. Her hand did not go through his hand as he felt very solid. Ann grinned as bad thoughts crossed her mind as he helped her stand up and she looked at him again just to make sure who she was seeing was real._**

 ** _"If your going to stare may as well take a bloody picture, might last longer." he let go of her hand then shifted his weight as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it._**

 ** _Ann shook her head and looked away with a red face. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to stare. It's just that well, Your spike from Buffy."_**

 ** _Spike rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Your Spike from Buffy , oh wow ." he mimicked her in a high pitch voice. "Bloody hell, yes I'm Spike an I'm fucking here to help you on to your next leg of this…You know what? Fuck this shit." Spike pulled out a flask and offered it to Ann. "Not sure if it will do anything for you since it's not real and all but your going to need it for this next part of your trial."_**

 ** _Ann took the flask and smelled it. It was vodka. She took a drink and coughed as she felt it burn it's way to her stomach. Spike took the flask back and laughed. "Guess it does work. Now, being a bloody fan girl and all you probably know about who I am and such right?"_**

 ** _Ann nodded her head as she felt the light tingle of the alcohol working._**

 ** _"Then you remember what I had to do to get my soul back right?" Spike took a long drag of his cigarette ._**

 ** _Ann had to stop and think. "You went to Africa to find a shamanic demon that could give you back your soul and he put you through trials. You eventually had to fight for both your life and soul..." Ann froze and stared at Spike._**

 ** _Spike smiled as he nodded his head and spoke letting the smoke out of his mouth. "Yeah, he said you would knew your stuff. Bloody geeks. Well I guess it's time." Spike flicked the cigarette away then flipped one side of his duster open and Ann saw he had a sword in a hilt. He pulled the sword out and handed it to her. "Here, your going to need this love."_**

 ** _Ann looked at the sword it was nearly as tall as she was. The hilt was white with a wolf's head carved into it. "John snow's sword. Fan fucking-tastic. Why am I getting John Snow's sword?" Ann asked as she took the sword. It was so heavy she nearly dropped it. She could barely lift the sword with two hands._**

 ** _"Because love, now it's your turn to fight for your soul. Think of the worst thing you never want to see in real life, and remember, go for the head, what ever it is always go for the bloody fucking head."_**

 ** _A loud snort was heard behind them. Spike and Ann turned to look at what made the noise. "Holy bloody fucking hell! what the fuck did you think of!" spike yelled at Ann as they saw what just appeared._**

 ** _Ann was so terrified she started to shake at what she saw was standing before her. "That's an albino Deathclaw!" Ann whispered as she grabbed spikes arm. Ann turned to him and yelled, "Don't let it kill me!"_**

 ** _Spike shook his head and pulled his arm from Ann. "I can't do anything, I was told to give you that sword and leave. This is the battle for your soul love... sorry" With that Spike just disappeared._**

 ** _Ann turned to the Deathclaw and saw that it had turned to look at her. With surprising speed it ran to Ann and slammed the back of it's clawed hand into her chest sending her backwards and onto her back. Ann turned to her stomach and scrambled to get up and run from the Deathclaw. She could feel the floor shake with every step the monster took. Suddenly she felt pain between her shoulder blades and screamed as the Deathclaw swiped at her back. Ann still had the sword tightly gripped in her hand and clumsily swung around with the sword. Ann's eyes went wide when she accidentally cut off the Deathclaw's hand. She watched horrified as the monster screamed in pain as it's hand dropped to the ground, its blood dripping all over her._**

 ** _It looked at her with fresh pain and hate in it's eyes and used its uninjured hand to backhand her again in the chest. Ann went flying backwards coughing up blood as she hit the ground._** }

Hancock jumped as he woke up to Danse and Daisy yelling for his help. He got up and ran to the bathroom. Hancock looked at Ann and saw she was having convulsions. Her feet were jerking around wildly and her face was full of fear and pain. Hancock ran in and knelt down to help Danse. Danse was trying to hold her arm still as Daisy tried to put an IV from one of the irradiated blood bags in it. Hancock watched as Ann suddenly coughed up blood and Danse pulled back for a moment then got a better grip on her arm. "Damn! Isn't there more we could be doing for her?" he yelled as he struggled to hold her arm still.

Hancock reached over and helped Danse secure her arm for the IV.

 _ **{Ann got up and wiped the blood from her face and found she had dropped the sword. She desperately looked around for it but was suddenly lifted into the air. The Deathclaw had picked her up and was now eyeing her face to face. He opened his mouth and yelled his roar into her face. Ann watched as saliva flew out of it's mouth and around each of it's sharp razor teeth, flecks of it hitting her face. The Deathclaw glared at her for a second then shook her before throwing her. Ann landed with a sick thud and rolled across the ground like a rag doll. She had heard the snap of her arm breaking on impact.**_

 _ **That's when Ann saw the sword lying on the ground not far from her. Ignoring the sickening pain in her arm, Ann got up and ran for the sword as the Deathclaw advanced onto her. She dived for the sword and grabbed it with her good hand. She was on her knees and struggled to get up with the sword. Ann stopped trying to get up and jut lifted the massave sword with all the strength she could swinging the sword up at the last moment when the Deathclaw was nearly on top of her. The Deathclaw impaled it's self on her sword when it lunged at Ann. It paused for a moment as it's heart tried to beat one last time with hard valerian metal lodged through it. Ann gasped as hot blood fell on her and she tried to move as the massive Deathclaw fell dead on top of her and everything went blank as she let out a scream of pain.}**_

Danse and Hancock watched as Daisy pulled the IV out of her arm after the blood bag had emptied. Ann's other arm had gotten broken during the seizure. She had hit it hard on the edge of the tub as she to flailed about. The blanket that covered her was soaked from the blood she had coughed up. She had stopped seizing just as fast as she started. It was Danse that had reached for her neck to feel for the pulse as everyone sat staring at her waiting to see if it was over. In a relieved voice he smiled. "She's still alive." Danse took a deep breath and let it out. He closed his eyes and rubbed his face as he stood up.

Hancock had to pull Danse from the bathroom. He could see the weariness in Danse's face. Even though he was a synth he was programmed to be as human as possible. Being tired was a human trait and he looked every ounce of it. "You need to rest Danse. She will be fine. I promise." Hancock said as he started to walk away.

Danse looked at Hancock and nodded to the bathroom. "Did you and Daisy go through the same thing?" Danse asked when he looked down at the floor as he sat in the recliner.

Hancock nodded. "Yeah. All ghouls do, Some more severe then others. I was luckier then most though. I turned ghoul because of an experimental drug I found. I was high as fuck through it all so I don't remember anything. This get up was the first thing I saw when I woke up. That's when John Hancock was born and John McDonough died." Hancock started to walk to the bathroom.

Danse looked up at Hancock with surprise on his face. "Wait, as in Diamond city McDonough, wasn't that the name of that Mayor in Diamond city? The one that ended up being a synth? Were you related to him or something?" Danse genuinely felt bad about asking when he saw the anger filled pain on Hancock's face changed to.

Hancock growled at the name and memory of it all. "That fucking synth killed my brother and took his name." Hancock threw the jet inhaler he was using at a wall and shattered it. He turned away from Danse and went back to the bathroom to give Daisy a break.

When he got in the bathroom Ann's arm was wrapped in a splint and she had a clean blanket covering her. Daisy had fallen asleep while holding the cloth to Ann's face. Hancock gently touched Daisy's shoulder and she jumped awake. "Oh, it's you john, she's a lot calmer now. She's not sweating no more and her skin is starting to scab over now. She could wake up at any moment now... you here for the next watch?" Daisy asked as She got up and stretched

Hancock nodded as he took the cloth from Daisy and smiled at her. "Get some rest, I got it from here." Hancock sat in the chair and leaned back and watched Daisy as she left. He then propped his feet on the edge of the broken toilet as he pulled out his jet inhaler and took a long drag of it watching the smoke rise to the ceiling as he let it out. He smiled as the jet kicked in.

 ** _{Ann woke up standing in a room bathed in white. She looked around and saw there was a massive stone door with what looked like a tree on a world carved on to it behind her. It looked like it was just floating in air. "Why am I here?" Ann asked aloud expecting no answer. The memory of the Deathclaw still fresh in her mind._**

 ** _"Hey."_**

 ** _Ann gasped and jumped looking around for the source of the voice. She paused when she saw a being that was made of pure shadow sitting across from her. The whole body was white like the room she was in, yet she could see the shadowed outline of a being. "Who are you?" she asked squinting to get a better look._**

 ** _The thing smiled somehow "Ohh, HaHaHa… I'm so very glad you asked." It answered in a voice that was neither male or female, old or young yet sounded like all at once. "I am what you call the world, or perhaps the universe, or perhaps Atom, or perhaps God, or perhaps truth, or perhaps all, or perhaps one, and I am also..." it lifted it's hand and pointed at Ann "You"._**

 ** _Ann took a confused step back. "Why am I here?"_**

 ** _The being gave a creepy grin that made Ann shiver. "You are here because I have brought you here. I have put you through the trials to see if you deserve a second chance." The being shifted and rested it's hand on it's knee. "You died, or truth be told, I killed you in your world. This is your second chance at life."_**

 ** _Ann had a puzzled look on her face. "I'm not dead! I was brought here by some freak lightning storm. I want to go back home." Ann was starting to panic at the thought of never seeing home again._**

 ** _The beings smile disappeared and it's voice grew louder. "You no longer have a home in that world. You crashed your car after I struck it with lightning. I then brought your pathetic soul to this world and provided you with a body and a chance to..." The being shook its head then stood up and walked to Ann and stood uncomfortably close to her. "What do you value most in life? Your wisdom or your memories?"_**

 ** _Ann shook her head as she tried to step back from the being. "Why are you doing this to me, what have I done to deserve this?"_**

 ** _The being closed the gap Ann had made and was nearly touching her, its voice now even louder then before. "I am doing this because as humans have a saying, 'life likes to fuck with you.' As to why you deserve this second chance, well it is because you have done Nothing to deserve it. Nothing with your life, Nothing with the tools I had given you to do good in your world. So here is your second chance to do something good. Not many souls get this chance, I guess you could say it's a once in a life time chance." The being got so close to Ann's face she could almost feel a nose if they had one. "What do you value most in life? Your wisdom or your memories?"_**

 ** _Ann too a deep breath and thought for a moment. "With out memories there is no wisdom, With out wisdom there are no memories..." Ann waited for the being to respond. It just stood there like it was staring at her and was thinking. Ann couldn't tell if it was staring at her or not as it had no eye's._**

 ** _After what felt like an eternity the being suddenly let out a laugh that was so loud it felt like it reverberated on every cell of Ann's body. "Consider that a blessing for making me laugh. Only one other person was able to do that and I blessed him with more charisma then any living soul should posses." It continued to laugh as it placed a hand on Ann's shoulder to steady it's self. Ann gasped as she felt a sudden wave of euphoria wash over her. The being then straightened its self up and took a few steps back from Ann. "I have spent centuries trying to find a soul with wisdom. Looks like I have found a good one this time, however, rules are rules. I can't let you go with out taking a payment for your second chance. I'm afraid that is how things must be done." The being put it's hand to where it's mouth should be like it was thinking. "I know, I'll take your knowledge of things. You will only be left with your wisdom and your sensory memories."_**

 ** _Ann looked at the being with a concern on her face. "I don't understand, what's sensory memories?"_**

 ** _"What happens when you smell a camp fire?"_**

 ** _Ann shook her head and replied. "I…well, I remember almost every other campfire that I shared with family and friends. They come at me all at once and it makes me feel happy." Ann smiled at the memories just talking about campfires brought up._**

 ** _The being shook it's head. "After this you will feel happy when you smell a campfire and not know why. In order to give you a knew life, I'm going to remove what I can of your old one. Since sensory memory is deeply ingrained into the soul I can't remove those."_**

 ** _The being lifted it's hand and placed it on Ann's forehead. When it pulled back Ann shivered as she watched yellow wisps of gold strands flow out from her head like threads made of gold dust. She felt her mind being ripped apart like paper and screamed, she could do nothing to stop what was happening. Her body was paralyzed as she watched in terror as the last wisp left her head and all fear disappeared and she stopped screaming. The being was now holding what looked like a glittering ball of thread. The being tossed it up in the air then caught it in it's hand like a baseball._**

 ** _Ann laughed like a child and reached for the sparkly object. "Can I play with that?" she asked in a cheerful voice._**

 ** _The being looked at her and smiled "What's your name child?"_**

 ** _Ann started to answer, but found she couldn't. "I don't know, do you know my name?" Ann asked the being._**

 ** _The being shook it's head and laughed at her. "You will find your name in time, but I think it's time you woke up. Too bad you won't remember this until the end of your story. Or I would ask you to say hi to Hancock for me." The being swiped his hand and the door behind Ann opened. Ann turned to see only darkness. She screamed in terror when arms made of shadow sprang fourth from the darkness and grabbed her. She didn't even have a chance to run and was pulled violently through the door.}_**

Hancock was resting but not asleep when Ann's body twitched in the tub. Hancock didn't move or say anything as he watched her lift her unbroken hand and looked at it. She then looked at the sling on her other arm. She moved slowly getting used to how her body felt. She got up on shaky legs, but fell back down into the tub. She tried again to get up, this time managing it with out the help of the tub. Ann was naked since Daisy had removed all her undergarments . Ann acted like she didn't even care she was naked.

Ann walked by Hancock and saw something move to her right. She jumped and looked to see what was moving. She saw a monster with no hair and glistening scarred skin looking at her. Ann slowly backed up and threw the bar of soap from the sink at it shattering the mirror. Hancock jumped and ducked at the sound of glass shattering. Ann screamed from the sudden loud noise that was amplified by her newly enhanced hearing. Her voice was unfamiliar to her and she ran out of the bathroom terrified of everything.

"Oh Fuck!" Hancock yelled as he bolted out of the bathroom to run after her. Hancock watched with dread as she ran into Danse who had been asleep in the recliner and was now staring at her with a blank look on his face with his gun aimed at her head.

Ann ran from the bathroom terrified at what she saw in the mirror and saw a man jump up from a couch holding a gun. She wanted to tell him there was a monster in the bathroom and that he should kill it, but she was having a hard time controlling her mouth and voice, it sounded deep, scratchy and horse.

Ann then noticed the gun was pointed at her and tried to talk to him. She heard a loud bang as she was Just finally able to get the word "help" to come out of her mouth. Ann fell to the ground when the bullet grazed her on the side of her head. She sat there stunned for a moment then yelled out in pain and put her hand up to the fresh wound on her head. The bullet had grazed across her skull and left a large open gash that started bleeding profusely between her fingers. Ann held her hand to her head to try and stop the pain and ringing in her ears. She started crying like a frightened child and begun rocking to calm her self.

Danse rushed to help her, but was blind sided by sudden pain as Hancock slammed his large fist into his face. Suddenly the chained door to the house was blasted open with a small explosion and Nora was standing there with her hands on her hips and anger etched on her face. "The Fuck is going on in here!"


	4. New life

Nora watched as Danse ran to Sanctuary with the woman in his arms. His power armor straining with each step as he pushed it to go faster. Nora had stayed behind to collect the woman's belongings after having it all ran through the rad scrubber. She hoped that the woman would make it in time. Nora had full faith that Curie could keep her from turning into a feral ghoul at least. She also hoped that Danse wouldn't kill her before making it to sanctuary. Nora had wanted to go through the woman's bag to see if she could learn anything more about her, but thought it would be more respectful to wait . If the woman survives and lives it might help her to go through it her self. If she doesn't survive, well then the bag was free game.

Nora had made a few calls out on the radio at the vault. Then gathered her things as she started to continue on to Sanctuary. Nora had been walking for hours when she watched Dogmeat run ahead when he had caught smell of something. He let out a quiet warning bark and the hair on his back went up as he growled at the shadows. Nora put her hand on the gun at her side and prepared to shoot if needed. They had got to the Red rocket truck stop after walking quietly for a few moments. Nora watched as a dark shadow walked out of the Red rocket building. Dogmeat immediately gave a happy bark and ran up to the figure. Nora took her hand off her gun and smiled.

"Hello Dogmeat." Came the old voice of the synth wearing an old worn trench coat and fedora. He looked at Nora with his glowing amber eyes. It was just getting dark so his eyes were bright and piercing in the early darkness.

"Mayor Nick Valentine," Nora said playfully as she ran up to him and gave him a warm friendly hug.

"General MacCready" Nick answered her back with a tip of his hat and a smile as she let him go.

"God, Nick don't call me that, sounds too damn formal." Nora said as she put her hand to her face and shook her head.

"Don't call me mayor and we'll call it even." Nick let out a quiet laugh as he scratched Dogmeat's head with his metal hand.

Nora smiled happy to see her old friend. "Didn't expect to see you Nick!" She missed doing detective work with Nick. Ever since he was elected as temporary Mayor of Diamond City until proper candidates could be found and an official election ran, he's been busy running things.

"I know you didn't expect me, but here I am. Heard the call you sent to Hancock and thought I would drop in to help, well, that and it kind of ties into my recent load of new cases." He lit a cigarette with a silver lighter, the light from the flame illuminating what was left of the old synth skin on his face.

Nora laughed " I forgot you like to hack in to the radio, I'm sorry I didn't radio you too Nick, I wasn't sure how busy you were or if you could even leave Diamond city."

Nick leaned against the wall of the old truck stop and blew out a cloud of smoke. "Well seeing as the new mayor has finally been elected I've gone back to just being Nick Valentine the detective." He inhaled on his cigarette.

"Well that's good to hear, it's been only what? Five years since you've been named temporary mayor? Who got elected to replace you?" Nora took Nick 's cigarette and took a drag of it. She was trying to cut back after getting started again, but was failing horribly.

"Piper." He smiled at Nora's raised eyebrows and nod of approval. He took his cigarette back and continued to smoke it. "How's MacCready? He back from his trip yet?" Nick and Nora had started walking slowly to Sanctuary both enjoying the others presence.

"Naw , he's due back anytime though. He's only been gone for about six months now. God I miss him, but Shawn will enjoy having another boy around to play with. It'll be nice hearing kids playing in sanctuary. So, what's with this case you we're talking about earlier?"

"This new case, or I should say case's are starting to worry me a bit." Nick was down to the butt of the cigarette and put it out with his metal fingers then flicked it away. Dogmeat ran to sniff at what he dropped and sneezed.

Nora stopped walking. "Hold up, Nick Valentine finally found a case that worries him?" Nora put her hand to her chest and pretended a shocked look on her face.

"Stop being a smart ass, and I said cases as in more then one. There has been a sharp rise in kidnappings all around the commonwealth." They both started walking again. Nora had picked up a large broken stick.

"Nothing new about that, raiders and gunners are always kidnapping settlers for some kind of ransom. Trust me I should know, Preston still keeps marking them on my damn map." Nora waved the stick in the air to get Dogmeat's attention.

"No, these aren't the normal kind of kidnappings people care about. Some one or a group of people are going around kidnapping ghouls. Non feral and feral."

Nora stopped dead in her steps. No way in hell could this be connected. "You think the woman I found has a connection don't you?" she had stopped waving the stick and had let her arm drop to her side still holding it. Dogmeat whined and nuzzled her hand.

"You said it Nora not me. You left out a lot of details over the radio, understandable since you never know who could be hacked in to your signal and listening." Nick smiled and gave Nora a side glance knowing he was one of those hackers in question. He watched as Nora launched the stick and saw it land in the creek in front of sanctuary with a splash.

Nora told Nick everything from the call about settlers at out post Zimonja up to the point of sending Danse solo to sanctuary to get the woman help faster. She didn't see a pool of blood or the woman's dead body… yet, so they must have made it. Dogmeat was in the water still trying to find the stick that had long ago floated away.

Nick and Nora were at the bridge now and had stopped for a moment. They both stared at the water as it went under the bridge. Tiny little minnows could be seen swimming in the water. They were mutated and had four eyes, double fins and resembled small gold fish. Dogmeat was now chasing them.

Nick shook his head. "She knew Danse's history eh, can't say that's common knowledge. I do know one thing though. From what your saying it sounds like a new group of Atom followers are involved. But why? I also didn't take them for being intelligent, so how in the hell did they know how to build that teleport pad and manage to pull some poor soul out of thin air on it? I don't know, I think I got more questions then answers at this point." His face changed into his detective look that Nora knew meant he was deep in his processors trying to piece things together.

Nora heard several different sets of foot steps running across the gravelly road towards Nick and herself. She looked in the direction and smiled. It was Shawn, Curie and MacCready all running to her. Nora smiled big and ran to MacCready. They embraced each other like lost lovers seeing each other for the first time in years. Then Nora had to mentally back track. Why was Curie not with the woman?

(((((((((()))))))))))

Danse was watching his initiates that showed some potential as Brotherhood recruits. This was his first mission as a new Palladian. He had been ordered by Elder Maxson to run these young Initiates through a sewer system that was reported to be mildly infested with feral ghouls. Everything was going smooth. He had motioned for them to be silent as they traveled the twists and turns. If they acted accordingly a few of them would become apart of the Brotherhood.

They came up to a section of the sewer that split off two ways. He let the initiates chose which tunnel to go down. He watched as they talked quietly about which tunnel they should choose.

"We should go down the one with stale air, ghouls probably love stale air." The cocky young male said.

Danse turned to a quiet young woman. "What do you think initiate… Haylen?"

The woman looked at Danse. "No, I would think they like the tinnels with fresher air. The rats that live down here prefer fresh air, which would provide the ghouls with food to eat. We need to go down the tunnel that has fresh air." She answered in a matter of fact tone. She was wearing an old yellow fighter helmet with a face shield on it. If she passes, she's going to be issued a brotherhood helmet to replace it.

Danse nodded his head at the young woman. She was smart and good looking. "Good thinking initiate, you might make scribe with thinking skills like those, Come on lets get this mission over with." He motioned for them to follow him.

They went down the tunnel with fresh air. Well, as fresh as one could have in a sewer filled with shit Danse thought. They heard shuffling up ahead in the darkness. Danse put up a hand to stop them. They had been using the dim lights of the tunnel to light the way through. For some reason the lights in this part were completely dark. Danse turned on the light in his power armor to see what they were hearing.

In the light of his power armor they saw dozens of feral ghouls. This was not mildly infested. This was Highly fucking infested.

As soon as his light went on every feral ghoul snapped it's head in their direction. He heard one of the initiates drop his gun and run, that initiate wasn't going to make it into the Brotherhood. The ghouls all ran towards them at the sound of the cowards gun hitting the floor.

Danse placed his self between the ghouls and the initiates behind him. He motioned at the ghouls with his gun. "Stay behind me and fire, I want every Ghoul dead!" he yelled at the remaining initiates.

Danse shot at Ghouls left and right, but they pressed on towards his small unit. Danse pulled out his last frag grenade and threw it down the tunnel. It exploded and ghoul parts when flying into several directions. The blast took out a majority of the ghouls giving them a fair chance at surviving this onslaught. He shot as many ghouls as he could but a few had made it passed him. He hoped the initiates could handle them.

Danse then saw the green glow of a glowing feral. He aimed for its legs and fired relentlessly. The ghoul fell to the ground when one of his legs fell off with a shower of glowing green blood. It was no longer able to walk, but the ghoul still tried to crawl across the ground with just it's arms. Danse shot it in the head until it stopped moving. He then turned around to shoot the ghouls that had made it by him.

He was horrified to see the ghouls were feasting on two of the initiates. The third one with the yellow fighter helmet was fighting for her life. Danse fired his gun to get it's attention. The ghoul looked at him and quickly got off the woman and ran towards him. It was snarling and growling at him trying to bite the air as it lunged closer.

Danse aimed at the ghouls head.

He blinked and the ghouls face turned frightened. It had changed somehow. It's skin was now raw, angry and pink. It's skin glistened with sweat. It was making weird guttural sounds at him like it was trying to talk to him. He aimed his gun right between it's eyes.

Danse blinked again and realized he was no longer in the sewer system. The ghoul somehow uttered the word help as he pulled the trigger. Danse jerked his hand when he pulled the trigger when he realized he was having one of his flash backs. He watched horrified as the ghoul woman fell to her knees as blood poured out from the side of her head. She started crying like a small child.

Oh god no. He thought.

He started to rush forward to help her. Suddenly he saw a flash of red and his face exploded in pain as a scarred fist made contact with his nose. He didn't have a moment to say anything before the door to the house exploded open. There stood Nora pissed off, hands on her hips. "The fuck is going on in here?"

(((((())))))

Nora had let JR go "Sorry love, but I got to check on someone. Let's put a rain check on this." She leaned in to him and kissed him again.

Joseph Robert MacCready had married her two years after they met at GoodNeighbor. He had matured into a strong protective husband and father. It took a year with her help to honor his no more cussing promise to Duncan. She had back handed his head every time a cuss word came out his mouth.

It was through her being a General that she was able to send JR on a well armored caravan to finally get Duncan and bring him home to be with his family where he belonged. Sadly, JR had missed out on most of Duncan's childhood. Nora grabbed JR's shirt and pulled him to her and kissed him passionately again.

"Yuck." Shaun said as he turned away.

Nora knelt down to him. "Sorry Shaun I forgot You don't like that mushy stuff." Nora then gave him motherly hug. She then pulled a wake master alarm clock from one of her packs and handed it to him. Shaun loved taking things apart and making new things out of the parts. "Why don't you go and get Dogmeat some dog food I think he's hungry." Nora watched him as he ran off with Dogmeat. Nick following them trying to give Nora and MacCready some alone time. Nora turned back to JR. "Is Duncan here? Where is he?"

JR smiled a weary smile. "We just got back early this morning. He's resting from the trip. He's still a bit week, but he's cured Nora!" JR smiled at Nora then looked at the bridge. He nodded at it "Got to see quite the sight this morning."

JR led Nora and Curie to a nearby picnic table to talk. "Saw Danse walk in here with a woman screaming her head off. We all thought he was trying to kill her when he plunged her into the creek water. She stopped screaming so suddenly we thought she was dead. Found out Hancock told him to do that. Something about radiation helping. Then Hancock, Danse and daisy locked them selves into the house Preston had boarded up and stocked. Boarding the house up was Preston's idea, Hancock was the one who wanted it stocked." He was holding Nora as they sat on one side of the table. Curie sat across from them.

Nora then turned to Curie. "What happened Curie? Why didn't you go in there with them?" Nora asked dreading the answer.

"I had tried to go in ze house, but Hancock he push me out saying it would be better if I wasn't apart of zes. He then locked the door with Danse inside. I am Sorry I was unable to do what you asked of me, I feel so bad." She shook her head and looked down at the table top. She had been so hoping to learn more about ghouls.

Nora shook her head. What the fuck was Hancock thinking. Danse was the last person she would have locked in there.

Nora reached across the table and squeezed Curie's hand. "Its ok Curie, I'm sure Hancock had his reasons. Are they still in there?" Curie looked up and nodded.

Nora gave her a reassuring nod. Then looked at JR and smiled at him again. She wanted so desperately to run with him to their house and give him a proper welcome home.

"Yes zey are still in ze house. Daisy said they had an issue earlier when I talked to her last through the window. Said ze woman had broke her arm and coughed up blood during a seizure."

Nora looked around the table "When was the last time you guys checked on them?"

Curie and JR looked at each other. JR shrugged his shoulders. "Its been a few hours. Its been quiet so no ones been over to check really."

Nora stood up "Well I think its time to check on them." Nora walked towards the house.

(((((())))))

Daisy had been sleeping deeply on the couch when she woke up startled by a gun shot. If that wasn't enough to stop her heart the door was suddenly blasted open and she about did have a real heart attack.

When she saw it was Nora she calmed down a bit. She then heard what sounded like a child crying. She looked and was horrified to see the woman was awake, naked and covered in blood, rocking back and fourth and crying like a child.

Daisy grabbed her blanket from the couch and wrapped the woman with it. She heard Hancock, Danse and Nora yelling at each other, but her main focus was on this woman. She was wounded and disoriented and didn't need to be subjected to all this noise. Daisy remembered how intense her senses were when she first woke up. Daisy helped the woman back to her feet and guided her to the bathroom. When she saw the broken glass she instead took the woman to the room across the hall and sat her on the bed.

The woman was still silently crying and her eyes were closed in pain. Daisy couldn't blame her. Daisy walked into the bathroom, her shoes crunching the glass into smaller shards. She gathered a few things and headed back to the bedroom. She glanced at the front room to see Danse storm out through the now ruined door. Hancock and Nora were silent and had shocked looks on there faces as he left. She noticed Danse had left his power suit so she knew he didn't plan on going to far. Or a least that's what she hoped.

Daisy went back to the woman and pulled her hand away from her head. Daisy saw the wound wasn't as serious as she had expected it to be. The bullet had grazed the side of her head, Daisy cringed when she realized she could see the woman's skull. She could have sworn with the amount of blood the woman had bleed she should have had something way worse. Daisy cleaned the wound and wrapped a bandage around her bald head to hopefully keep infection from setting in. Not many female ghouls go completely bald, but she did. The woman had stopped crying but was silent now and was shaking a little.

Hancock and Nora walked into the room. MacCready stayed at the doorway. "How's Ann?" Hancock asked.

Daisy smiled, she didn't know the woman's name until now. "Ann's doing ok, the bullet grazed the side of her head." Daisy was unsure of what to do next. The woman was silent and was staring at the floor shaking. Daisy placed her arm across Ann's shoulders and held her like a mother would with a grown child. Ann's body relaxed a little and she blinked her eyes and looked around.

Hancock shook his head. He had seen her skull through the wound and thought the worst. Then there was the blood, there was just too much blood for a graze. He pulled out a cigar and lit it. He inhaled and let out a long breath of smoke. Daisy felt the woman relax even more. The smell of the cigar seamed to help calm her.

Hancock got in front of her and knelt down. When the woman saw his face she took a sharp breath and slightly jerked back away from him. Hancock smiled. "Yeah , its ok doll, I know my mugs not the best looking. I remember the first time I saw myself like this. I about had a heart attack, I once had long blond hair and blue eyes that many a woman had fallen for. Now I'm bald with black eyes that women still somehow fall for, its got to be the king of the zombies look." Hancock stood up and took another puff of the cigar. "Your eyes have got to be the most unusual ones I've seen so for on any ghoul." He then walked to the doorway and gave a nod at Daisy with his hat. "I'm going to go for a walk to let you ladies settle her in. MacCready, you want to drink a beer with me at the fire pit?" Hancock left the bedroom and waited in the front room.

JR looked at Nora. "Nora, if your ok with that?" Nora nodded her head at him. Nora walked further into the room with Daisy and Ann.

As Hancock and RJ were walking through the front room she heard Hancock tell RJ he had gotten pussy whipped since getting married.

Nora peaked back out the door and yelled at them. "I heard that Hancock." Hancock laughed as he put his arm around JRS's shoulder and guided him out of the house into the night.

Ann looked around the room and jumped slightly when she saw the woman sitting next to her. The woman smiled and gave Ann a reassuring hug. "Well dear, My name is Daisy, this is Nora." Daisy looked like she wanted to say more but didn't know exactly what to say or how to say it.

Ann looked down at her hand. She noticed it looked a lot like Daisy's hand. Then she touched her face and felt the raw scarred skin. Daisy was missing her nose, but Ann felt she still had hers. Ann moved her hand up and felt her head was bald.

Ann tried to talk again but it still came out deep and guttural. Her throat hurt tremendously from even trying to use her voice.

Ann started to panic, but Daisy grabbed her hand and held it in hers calming Ann down. In a soothing motherly voice Daisy talked to her "Dear, do you know your name?" Daisy asked.

Ann thought for a moment but her mind was blank. It was an odd feeling. She looked at the bed and knew it was called a bed. She looked up at a picture on the wall that was of a kitten playing with a toy rocket. Shew knew the names of things around her but couldn't remember who these people were or even who she was. Daisy smiled "Its ok dear, I was told your name is Ann, do you want to be called Ann?" Daisy asked.

Ann tried to associate the name Ann with her self. It felt wrong. It may have been her name once but that's not who she felt like she was now." Ann looked at Daisy and shook her head no. Daisy sighed. "Well dear, until you can think of another name, and tell it to us, may we call you Ann?" Ann thought about it and nodded her head yes.

The other woman had knelt down in front of Ann and looked her in the eye's. "Hancock wasn't exaggerating when he said your eyes were unique. My name is Nora, I've got your belongings you had with you when you came here. If you want to we can go through them now or wait until tomorrow." Ann's stomach growled before she could answer and both Daisy and Nora laughed. "I guess its settled then, Lets get you dressed so you can come to the fire pit and eat some stew." Nora opened a dresser and handed Ann some clothes. It was a brown shirt and blue denim jeans. Ann shook her head wondering why she knew what these things were but not her own Damn name.

Ann stood up and the blanket fell to the floor. Her body had the same angry pink skin allover it. She looked at her self and saw her left arm was wrapped in some kind of cast.

Daisy placed her hand on it "Does it feel ok, I tried not to wrap it too tight. You broke your arm while you were having a seizure. We didn't have any stimpacks on hand, so I had to wrap it" Ann saw Nora dig into a bag on her hip and pulled out a weird thing. Finally something she didn't know the name of.

Nora showed it to Ann "Are you ok with me treating your arm with a stimpack ?" Ann looked at the thing with the sharp pointy end. She shook her head no and stepped back from Nora pulling her arm close. If she could talk it would have been a hell no.

Nora put the thing back in her pack and shook her head. Daisy helped Ann get dressed. Nora then grabbed a brown and tan bag and took it with them when they left the house.

Ann shivered a little as the chill night air hit her hot skin. Ann followed the women to an area with lots of people.

They all looked up when they heard foot steps approaching. Ann looked at every face trying to figure out if she knew any of them. She recognized Hancock from earlier. He didn't frighten her when she first saw him. She jumped because when she looked at him she had a flash of a feeling. Not a memory but a feeling of unknown desire. When he lit up the cigar it had the same effect but was different. It calmed her on some deep level.

When Ann got close to the fire pit she caught a whiff of the smoke. It made her feel happy, like this has been a place to make good memories but Ann had none to pull up in her mind. Slowly the happiness was replaced with sadness as she felt like she had lost something that meant the world to her. Ann felt tears fall from her eyes. She used the back of her hand to wipe them away. Hancock approached her and put his hand on her shoulder "Hay doll, don't cry, things will get better you'll see." Ann smiled and nodded her head. She pointed at the smoke then at her eyes. "No voice yet, I remember it took me a few weeks to finally be able to talk again, a few more to get used to how my new voice sounded." He smiled as he walked with her to the pit. When they got there he went back to resume his drinking with MacCready.

Ann looked around and was surprised to see more people that looked like her self sitting around the fire. What the hell happened to make her self and these people look the way they did.

A little boy ran up to her and grabbed her hand. He smiled with big wide brown eyes "Hi my name is Shaun what's your name?" Ann smiled at the boy and shook her head pointing at her throat.

Daisy spoke for her "Her name for now is Ann until she can think of a new one. She can't talk yet dear." Daisy said to Shaun as she ruffled his hair.

The boy laughed "Thank you Aunt Daisy, Do you think it would be ok if I called her Aunt also?" he then looked at Ann "Mom has me call all her friends Aunt and Uncle, she says it's good to have family."

Daisy smiled and shook her head "You can ask Ann your self dear, just as long as you keep your questions to yes or no answers." Daisy then turned away from Shaun and walked over to Hancock.

Shawn looked at Ann "Well, is it ok if I call you Aunt Ann?" He asked innocently.

As soon as he uttered the words Aunt Ann. Ann felt her heart break. She felt more tears fall across her face. Ann growled in frustration, this crying bullshit was getting out of hand. Shawn's smile faded when he heard her growl, He took a step back with a slight look of fear on his face. Ann mouthed the words sorry to him and shook her head. She tried to talk to him to tell him it was ok, that she didn't mind being called Aunt Ann but the guttural sounds that came from her made the boy yell and run from her. Ann slapped her hand to her face and shook her head. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Ann looked up and Saw it was Nora. Ann shook her head and pointed in the direction of the boy. She mouthed the word sorry. Nora nodded and smiled as she handed Ann a bowl of steaming stew. Ann mouthed the word thank you.

Nora nodded in the direction Shaun had ran "Sorry about that, Shaun will understand once I explain things better to him tonight. I'm sure he'll forgive you. I've got another son named Duncan. He should be more able to handle you since he grew up around other ghouls."

Ann mouthed the word ghoul and pointed at her self.

Nora nodded "You are called a ghoul now. Hancock, Daisy, all the others you see here are all called ghouls. Life is going to be very different for you, your going to be treated differently outside of Sanctuary. I'm sorry, we tried to avoid this, but you had absorbed too much radiation too fast. Looking back there was really no way to stop you from becoming a ghoul." Nora placed a hand on Ann's shoulder and squeezed it in a reassuring way. Nora then walked away.

Ann looked down at the bowl of stew in her hand. It's smell was strong and over powering.

"Hey, Ann! why don't you come over here and sit with us?" Ann looked up and saw it was Hancock waving at her motioning for her to come. Ann walked over to him and found and empty chair next to a man wearing and old Fedora. When Ann looked at his face she nearly dropped her bowl of stew. His eyes were glowing.

"The names Nick Valentine, sorry if I startled you, I kind of forget this old mug has that effect on people." He smiled and extended a hand to Ann for her to shake it. Ann took his hand and was shocked to feel how cold it was. She then looked closer at his face and saw pieces of it were missing and underneath was metal and wires. No way he was a machine. People were not machines and machines were not people. Ann then saw the other hand on his knee was all metal. He really was a machine. Ann's eyes went wide and she smiled with a look of wonder and amazement. She silently mouthed, "Wow that's so cool!" at him.

Nick let out a loud laugh as he pulled a cigarette out of a pack that he pulled from his coat. He lit it and inhaled. "I think that's got to be the best reaction I've seen yet, thank you." He then continued to smoke his cigarette.

Ann looked back down at her now cold bowl of stew. She picked up the spoon and took a bite. She nearly gaged on it. She politely swallowed the food and tried to keep from retching as the after taste of the food made her cringe.

"Don't worry doll your taste will come back soon enough, everything's going to taste like shit until then." Hancock had watched her eat her first bite of food and smiled as he remembered trying to eat after becoming a ghoul. Everything tasted like shit. He almost starved but he managed it. He remembered the first brahma steak he had ate after his taste came back, it was the best damn piece of steak he ever ate.

"Just choke it down and you'll be ok doll." Hancock smiled as he held back on saying anything more that might embarrass the woman. " When you get your taste back I'll make you a brahma steak to celebrate." A grin spread across his face as he saw Nick was the only one not eating. "Hey nick why don't you eat a bowl of stew, you're the only odd man out." Hancock handed Nick his bowl of stew, then paused "Oh wait, I forgot your on a no organic food diet"

Hancock laughed loudly as Nick quietly flipped him the bird. "Fuck off Hancock, you know I don't eat."

Ann laughed silently. She then quickly ate what she could of the disgusting stew. She could only get through a few bites before she had enough.

Ann looked around and saw the man that had shot at her was nowhere to be seen. She didn't blame the guy for shooting at her. Hell, she threw a bar of soap at her own reflection.

Ann noticed other people were scrapping there bowls out into a dish on the ground where a big beautiful Germen Shepard and a brindle pit bull were happily eating the left over scraps.

Ann got up and followed what everyone was doing. When the German Sheppard smelled her he wagged his tail and licked the back of her hand. Ann patted his head. "You have him to thank for being alive." It was Nora again. Ann turned to her.

"He saved your life from the man that was trying to bash your head in with a baseball bat, you don't remember any of that do you?"

Ann shook her head no. She tried to remember but came up blank. The only memories she had were the ones from waking up in the bathtub to now.

"It looks like everyone is headed off to bed, the house you came from is the guest house, that's where you, Hancock and Daisy are going to stay. Nick probably would sleep there too if he could sleep." Nora took the bowl from Ann and smiled. Ann smiled back and turned to go to the guest house.

When she got there she went in side. She went to the room where she had got dressed and laid down on the bed. Sleep did not come. She later heard Hancock and Daisy enter the house. She listened as Daisy walked to the other bedroom next to hers and laid on the bed. Then she heard the couch squeak as Hancock laid on it and sprawled out.

Ann laid in the bed for a while longer and could hear both Hancock and Daisy's breathing slowdown as they both fell asleep. Ann was tired of looking at the blank ceiling and decided to get up and walk around out side. She felt too awake to sleep.

When Ann walked out side and saw the fire in the fire pit had nearly died out. In the quiet she noticed that her hearing was better and that her eye sight was perfect in the dark. She could see everything as if a dim light on.

Ann listened and could hear many people breathing as they slept. She then heard a woman moaning from great sex and a man grunting as he climaxed into the woman. Ann shuddered. How gross, super hearing and all she could hear was people having sex, nice.

She then heard a different sound. It was a bottle clinking as it was set down roughly onto a hard surface. Then she heard a sniffle of someone who was quietly suffering deep sadness. Ann followed the sounds and finally came to a man sitting on a small bridge that was over a small creek. She saw a hill behind that.

She quietly approached the man. As she got closer she realized it was the man that had pointed the gun at her. Why was he here on this bridge so upset?

Ann walked closer and stepped on a stick making it snap. The man quickly turned to point a gun at her. She raised her hands and kept her mouth shut remembering what happened with Shaun and the last time she tried to talk to this man.

He laughed and put the gun back down. "That would be fucking great, Hancock would kill me for sure if I shot you again. God, I'm sorry for shooting you. I didn't mean too." He looked away from her then up at the sky.

Ann hesitated, not sure of what to do. She quietly walked over to the man and sat on the bridge next to him. He looked like he needed some to be with him.

Ann saw he had two bottles of alcohol next to him. One bottle was clear and the other was a green bottle with dark liquid in it. Ann motioned at the clear bottle. The man looked at her finally realizing she was now sitting next to him. He shrugged as he grabbed the clear bottle and handed it to her. "Here keep it, its too damn strong for me. I don't normally drink."

Ann took it and took a drink of it. She gaged and coughed as it burned going down.

The man laughed as he held the bottle for her as she recovered her breath. "looks like it's too strong for you too." He then picked up the red bottle and took a long drink from it. "At least wine is somewhat more drinkable." He put the bottle back down. "I'm sorry I shot at you, I sometimes get these flash backs to a failed mission that I screwed up horribly. I was in the middle of the worst of it when you came to me. Instead of helping you I shot at you. I'm a great fucking person." He took another drink of the wine. He was clearly drunk.

Ann smiled at him. She wanted to tell him it was ok. She took a deep breath and tried to talk to him in a whisper.

"It's ok, I tried to throw a bar of soap at my self. I saw a monster when I was walking through the bathroom. Turned out it was just me in the mirror. You did what you thought you had to do to protect your self." Ann felt her throat become raw and sore from talking like that. She tasted blood in her mouth and took a drink of the clear bottle hoping it would help. It burned horribly at first, but it did numb the pain a little.

The man sat there for a long while. Ann hesitated for a moment, then she placed her hand on his hand. She felt him flinch, but he didn't pull his hand away. They both sat there for a long while. Danse was replaying the events of what happened after Nora burst through the door in his head.

(((((())))))

"The fuck is going on?" Nora demanded as She stormed in through the door.

Hancock pointed at him "That fucking ass hole shot her!" Hancock pointed at Ann. Who was now being tended to by Daisy.

Nora took a few steps up to Hancock pointing a finger dangerously at his face. "What the fuck did you expect to happen John? That Danse was going to fucking sing and dance with her? There was a reason why I wanted Curie in here and not him!" Nora glanced at Danse and saw he had a broken nose and blood was pouring from it.

Hancock started to say some thing, But Danse spoke before Hancock could. " Don't yell at John Nora. He was just trying to show me what someone goes through to become a ghoul, he was also protecting Curie. He didn't want her living with guilt if the woman turned feral and she had to kill her." Danse looked at Hancock and Nora. Both had shocked faces.

Danse realized he had stood up for Hancock without a second thought. He could feel blood pouring from his nose. From the punch Hancock placed on his face.

Nora looked at Hancock and pointed at Danse. "How fucking hard did you hit him?"

Hancock shook his head. He was speechless, Danse had never called him by his name before.

Danse looked at the Ann as Daisy helped her walk to the bathroom. He saw her blood on the floor and he shook his head. His anger flared at his self and he punched the wall next to him. He then stormed out of the house.

He had a house of his own in Sanctuary that he shared with Haylen. She loved him but he was still unsure that it was right for a human to be in love with a synth. Danse walked to his house and noticed it was dark and quiet. He opened the door and saw it was empty. There was an envelope on the table. It had Haylen's beautiful hand writing on the outside. In the letter she wrote she could no longer handle being the only one in love. That she was going back to rejoin the brotherhood.

He felt empty with her gone. He then realized he had been in love with her but had been to scared to let her truly know. She had waited five years for him to love her back and he had ignored her. He truly was an asshole.

After what just happened and then finding the letter from Haylen everything crashed on to him emotionally. He was a soldier and was expected to keep his feelings in check, but this was his breaking point. He left the house with two bottles of alcohol that were given to him long ago and a hand gun.

He had came to the bridge with the intent of drinking his self senseless and ending everything.

He had been surprised when Ann had approached him. Even more so when she sat next to him and drank with him. He was so numb with pain he didn't even care she was a ghoul when she placed her hand on his. In some strange way just having someone there next to him, listening to him, just being there for him was enough to make him rethink his choices.

Ann was starting to think he had fallen asleep. She jumped when he finally spoke.

"Thank you. For sitting here with me. I had some things I was trying to work out before you got here." He looked at her and smiled "My Name is Danse, but you already know that, you know a lot about me don't you?"

Ann got a confused look on her face and shook her head no. She pointed at her bandaged head and mouthed "No memories"

Danse shook his head and looked away from her. He felt guilty wondering if the memory issues was his fault.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked at Ann as the sun was rising. He was able to see her eye's again and was taken aback at how intense they now were. The whites of her eyes were now black. The dull eye color he had saw in her eyes at the bridge was gone and had been replaced with brighter more vibrant colors of what they once were. One eye an intense amber the other an emerald green. They were the most oddly beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He saw her shake her head and smile at him. She then stood up and kissed him on his forehead before walking away.

Danse was still stuck on her eyes looked before he realized a ghoul had just kissed him. He was drunk and confused. What was happening to him. First he stood up for Hancock back at the house now a kiss.

(((((())))))

Hancock had known Ann wasn't going to sleep. He had stayed awake for a few weeks after turning before he started feeling tired but only ever really slept for a few hours at a time.

Hancock had watched from the couch as Ann walked out of the bedroom and out of the house. He watched as she stood there at the doorway getting used to her new senses. He smiled knowing she could probably hear Nora welcoming MacCready home. When she walked out of his sight he got up and quietly fallowed her from a distance.

Hancock had walked over to the burned out fire pit to sit and watch her.

"Cant sleep?"

Hancock had been trying to light a cigarette and had jerked his hand at the voice missing the cigarette and burning his fingers instead. "Damn it Nick! you fucking never miss a chance to scare some one do you?"

Nick smiled and lit a cigarette for his self. "She's not going to sleep for awhile is she?"

Hancock shook his head "Nope, I bet 100 caps she stays awake for the next three weeks."

"I'm not the betting kind of synth." Nick said.

Hancock watched as the Ann approached a person sitting on the tiny bridge that led to Vault 111. He watched as the person was startled and suddenly turned to aim a gun at her.

Hancock had started to jump up but Nicks hand had shot out and grabbed his frock coat pulling him back down. Hancock watched as the man put the gun away and went back to staring at the water.

Hancock watched as Ann sat down next to the man. "You know who that is Nick? I can't see that far away."

Nick took a drag off his cigarette. "That's Danse, he's been sitting there all night drinking with that gun sitting next to him."

Hancock looked back at the two on the bridge. Danse was handing Ann a clear bottle. She took a long drink of it and he could barely hear her cough. "Maybe I did hit him too hard, he's sharing a bottle of alcohol with a ghoul."

Hancock and Nick watched the two for a bit.

Nick flicked his butt into the fire pit. "I went to his house to talk to Haylen, all her stuff was gone and there was a tore up letter by his door. From what I could gather from the pieces she left him to go back to the Brotherhood."

Hancock flicked his butt into the fire pit "Ouch."

Hancock and Nick watched as Ann stood up and kissed Danse on the face before walking away from him in the early morning light.

Hancock and Nick both smiled as they looked at each other. Hancock spoke before Nick could. "Holy shit…This could get interesting."


	5. Questions

Ann stood up and kissed Danse on his forehead and walked away from him. She didn't know why she kissed him. She didn't do it to flirt with him. Ann felt like she needed to protect him from something But didn't know what. He had appeared so sad and lonely sitting there. Somehow it felt like putting a kiss on his forehead was her silent way of telling him she cared about him and wanted to protect him. Ann felt like it was mostly her fault why he had to be feeling so bad.

Ann had got up to walk back to the guest house because it felt like the alcohol had went through her system as fast as possible and was now pounding on her bladder to be let out .

As Ann quickly walked back to the guest house she realized she was still holding the bottle of Alcohol Danse had gave her, she didn't intend on taking it. Ann walked through the broken front door and saw It was empty with the early morning light. Daisy and Hancock must have got up while she was gone.

Ann walked to the bathroom and saw the broken glass on the floor. Ann shook her head as she felt bad for the mess she made. Ann set the bottle down on the sink as her shoes crunched on the glass as she tried to step over broken pieces to get to the toilet.

Ann did what she came to do them picked the bottle back up as she left the bathroom to put it in the kitchen. She looked at the clear bottle of alcohol in her hand as she walked and figured what the hell, the shit soothed her sore throat and took another drink of it.

"Morning sunshine, sleep well last night?" Hancock looked at Ann with a cocky grin on his face as he walked through the front door and lit up a cigarette with his gold lighter.

Ann about dropped the bottle she was drinking from as she jumped at his voice. Ann shrugged her shoulders and shook her head no as she continued to walk to the kitchen.

Ann jumped again when she saw a tall metal person was standing hunched in a dark corner of the front room.

Hancock laughed as he walked over to the couch and flopped down on it. "It's just Danse's power armor sister. I see you got an early start on breakfast." Hancock nodded at the bottle in Ann's hand.

Ann smiled and shook her head no as she walked over to Hancock and handed the bottle to him. Hancock took a quick drink of it and his eye brows rose as he nodded his head with a smirk of approval. "Breakfast of champions that right there is, moonshine is hard to come by, here sister, keep it somewhere safe for special occasions." Hancock took a cork out of his coat pocket and corked the bottle to keep it's contents safe as he handed Ann back the bottle.

Hancock then laid his head back on the couch "I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm just going to catch an early morning nap, you need anything sister just let me know."

Ann smiled as she nodded at Hancock as he lowered his hat over his eye's.

Ann quietly took the bottle to the kitchen and put it in a cabinet. She found a broom and dust pan and headed back to the bathroom.

Hancock was already softly snoring on the couch. Ann wondered why he was so tired if he had all ready slept.

Ann started to walk down the hallway to clean the bathroom when a round floating robot with fire shooting out the bottom of it floated from the room she had tried to sleep in. It had a circular saw attached to one arm a clamp like thing attached to another and its third arm had some kind of weird yellow syringe looking thing on it. One of It's three moving eyes focused on her as It continued to float out of the bedroom towards Ann.

Ann's eyes widened in terror as she dropped the dust pan and gripped the broom tighter while backing out of the hallway. The robot looked at her with one of it's three moving eye's then at the dust pan on the floor as it started to float closer to Ann. Ann started to turn to run out the house and saw Hancock on the couch. She couldn't run and leave him unprotected.

Ann turned and held the broom like it was a bat and got ready to start swinging.

"Thank you madam, I was needing a broom to clean up the glass in the bathroom." The robot tipped a bowler hat at Ann as It greeted her and picked up the dust pan. It sounded like a it had a refined British accent.

Ann relaxed slightly and lowered the broom. She was still weary of the robot.

The robot got closer to her and motioned at the broom. "I'll need that to clean the bathroom madam." Ann shook her head no at the robot and pointed at the dust pan then to herself.

The robot's one eye that was on her dilated at her like it was surprised, "You want to clean it?" the robot asked her in a surprised tone.

Ann shook her head yes and mouthed to the robot "My mess."

Now all the robot's eyes were fixed on her and it's voice had a happy tone to it, "About time someone cleaned up after them selves." The robot handed Ann the dust pan then silently floated by her as it went to the kitchen.

Ann cleaned up the glass and dumped it into a small waste basket.

The robot floated over to her and looked at the bathroom nodding it's eye in approval.

Ann motioned at the glass and mouthed "Where?"

The robot motioned at the front door "Just take the glass to the glass bin at the scrap bench." The robot told her as it took a mop that was sitting in a corner of the bathroom and left the room with it. Ann followed the robot and saw a mop bucket next to her blood on the floor where she bleed out from earlier that night.

Ann shook her head not wanting to remember it. Ann would have cleaned that up too, but the smell of the blood was starting to make her sick. She quietly waved good bye at the robot, it tipped it's hat at her as she stepped out the door.

Hancock smiled as Ann left the house, he then sprawled out on the couch and tried to get some sleep for real.

Ann carried the glass silently as she tried to look around for something that resembled a scrap bench.

Ann saw people were sitting around the fire pit. Ann walked to the fire pit to ask someone where the scrap bench was located. She cringed as the smell of coffee was over powering her nose and she could feel that sadness creeping in on her again. Ann ignored it and commanded her self to not cry. Ann looked around at the few people that were there to find someone she knew while they walking around her eating and talking.

"Good morning Ann." Ann recognized Nick's unique voice from last night. She turned to where his voice came from and was able to get a better look at what he looked like in the early morning light.

His pale skin looked worn and was missing in some spots on his face. The spots that were missing showed his wiring and metal parts underneath. His expressive eyes were not as bright in the day light, but were still oddly beautiful and mesmerizing to look at. She saw his right hand wasn't covered with skin and was made meticulously out of metal and mechanical parts.

Ann nodded at him with a smile and waved at him.

Nick smiled back at her and motioned at the waste basket in her hands. "What's in the basket?"

Ann tilted the basket so he could see in it.

Nick looked at the glass and smiled at her as he stood up. "I guess you would like to know where to put that?" he asked as he flicked a cigarette butt into the fire.

There was a campfire coffee pot bubbling away on a metal grate. Ann could hear occasional hissing as the coffee in it bubbled out the spout and into the flames, Ann shuddered at the horrid smell of burning coffee.

"Wait a moment, I need to move the coffee before it burns, can't drink the stuff, but I figure some other people might need it to wake up after a last night."

Ann watched as Nick walked over to the fire and used his metallic hand to move the hot pot away from the hottest part of the fire to a cooler spot so it would stay warm.

Nick then turned to Ann. "Follow me and I'll take you to the scrapping area." Ann followed Nick as he walked away from the fire pit.

"Saw you were up early with Danse this morning." Nick spoke as he handed Ann a weird purple fruit from a bush as they walked by it.

Ann turned red hoping he didn't see her kiss Danse as she nodded her head and took the fruit with her free hand and looked at it. It was purple, green and bumpy. Ann bit into it and felt It's juices drip down the side of her mouth. It was juicy like a peach. Ann wondered why she knew what a peach was, but not what this fruit was. The taste of the fruit was intensely sweet and sickening while the skin was horrifically sour and bitter. Her new sense of taste was so strong that it made the fruit taste…like shit. Ann wanted to spit it out but swallowed the bite the be polite. It tasted worse then the stew.

Ann shook her head and placed it into the bin. She was hungry but after the way the stew and fruit tasted, the thought of food was starting to make her feel sick.

Nick sighed and gave her a side glance while they walked. "Your eventually going to need to eat more than a few bites of something. You didn't eat much of the stew last night. Hancock explained to me that after some one turns, there senses are extremely strong. Food probably tastes bad to you, but your going to starve if you don't eat something." Nick watched Ann as she shook her head no at the thought of food. She then saw a large area that was covered in junk.

In the center of it all was a workbench with tools and parts laying all around. Ann saw a big bin with a pile of broken glass in it. Ann added her glass to the pile as she dumped it into the bin.

She jumped as Shaun popped up from behind the bench at the sound of glass tinkling into the bin. Ann backed up not wanting to frighten him again as his eyes went wide when he saw her.

Nick smiled at Shaun "Its ok kiddo, she's not going to hurt you."

Shaun smiled when he saw Nick and ran out from behind the work bench hiding something behind his back. "Uncle Nick! Look what I made for you." Shaun proudly held up a magnifying glass with a small flash light attached to it with wires and screws. "It's a magnifying glass that lights up now. I got the idea from a comic book where the silver shroud used one like it to do his detective work in the dark. Do you like It Nick?" Shaun asked as he handed the creation to Nick. Nick smiled as he took the gift Shaun gave him and ruffled Shaun's hair. "Thank you Shaun, I'll put it to good use next time I'm lookin for some clues in the dark."

Shaun then looked over at Ann with an apologetic face. "I'm sorry I made you angry, I can just call you Ann if you still like me." Shaun looked down at his feet and shuffled them.

Ann walked over to Shaun and knelt down to him. Ann wrapped her arms around him as she voicelessly whispered to him like she had done with Danse. "I'm sorry I scared you. I wasn't angry with you. Was sad is all. You can call me Aunt Ann Shaun." Ann cringed from the pain in her throat and tasted blood in her mouth as she let him go and stood back up.

Ann faked a smile to keep Nick and Shawn from seeing she was in pain.

Shaun smiled big at her "Thank you Aunt Ann, do you want to see what I do?" Ann nodded her head yes as he took her hand and led her to the work bench.

"I see you two are going to be ok, I'm going back to the fire pit to keep the coffee going, their is going to be a lot to do today once everyone wakes up". Nick nodded at Shaun then at Ann and left them.

Hancock woke up on the couch about an hour after Ann left the house. He had silently watched her encounter with Codsworth to see what her reactions were going to be when she saw him. He had almost blown it by laughing. He watched her start to run but he saw she stopped when she saw himself on the couch unprotected. Then she turned to face to Codsworth with a broom. If she had known the kind of damage that robot could do, she probably would have just ran.

Hancock stretched out and sat up. That shot of shine wasn't enough to get him drunk, but it was enough to get a short restful sleep. Hancock saw the floor was cleaned up where Ann's blood had been. There was a knock at the door and Hancock turned to see Danse standing at the doorway.

Hancock grinned remembering Ann had kissed him. "You don't have to knock man" Hancock waved Danse in as he popped a Mentat to help him wake up.

Danse walked into the house with a groan. He was wearing sunglasses and was holding his head in the trademark tell all of an epic hangover.

Hancock got up with a smile and walked to the kitchen as he spoke to Danse, "Hangovers are rough first thing in the morning, I honestly wondered if you could get drunk or not." Hancock got two beers from the fridge and walked over to Danse who was now sitting in the big red overstuffed recliner and offered him a beer.

Danse moaned and glared at the bottle. "I'm having a hangover from drinking too much and your handing me that?" Danse looked at Hancock like he was crazy then at the beer again like it was evil.

"It's to help soften the hangover effects. Trust me, it will help." Hancock set the beer down next to Danse and walked back over to the couch.

Danse shook his head moaned then grabbed the beer popped the top off and drank it. "I'm sorry about shooting Ann, she walked into me at a bad time. I was in the middle of a flash back."

Hancock had opened his beer while Danse spoke, he took a drink "It's all good man, I'm sorry I popped you in the face like that, how are ya holdin up? Nick told me about Haylen going back to the Brotherhood."

Danse lowered his head then looked at Hancock. "She waited five years for me to love her back. I did love her, but I was the one questioning if a human and machine should be romantically together. If anything it should have been her doing the questioning, not me. According to my memories I was raised in the brotherhood. Only problem with that… synths don't age. I will still look like this fifty years from now." Danse drank from his bottle.

Hancock scoffed and spoke in a flat voice. "I'm sorry, that's got to be rough. It must be hard having a perfect, ripped body of a 30 year old for ever, man that's got to suck" Hancock shook his head as he looked away from Danse to look at the beer in his hands.

Hancock knew Danse was a synth. He had gone with Nora to help her find Danse when he hid from the brotherhood. When they found him he had gotten rid of his brotherhood power armor and was only wearing his underwear. It took some major convincing from Nora to talk him out of wanting to be dead. Danse had expected Nora to follow Elder Maxson's orders to kill him. Hancock knew Nora would never kill him even if he begged her to. Nora was ready to take on the whole brotherhood to keep him alive.

Danse shook his head agreeing with Hancock "That right there is the problem"

Hancock tilted his beer at Danse "That you look too good? That can be fixed with a bunch of fancy lads, a big bowls of sugar bombs and a baseball bat."

Danse rolled his eyes "That's not what I meant, if Haylen and I had stayed together she would have aged and got older while I stayed young." Danse emptied his beer. His head did feel better surprisingly.

Hancock leaned back and shrugged his shoulders. "That just means whatever kids you guys would have had would have been grateful to not deal with your old ass." Hancock drank the last of his beer.

Danse looked at Hancock, sadness etched in his face. "I can't produce kids John, that was the main reason why I held back so much with Haylen, she eventually would have wanted kids." Danse turned the empty bottle in his hands.

Hancock got up talking as he walked towards Danse. " ya know, ghouls age very slow, so we live longer and because of what the radiation did to our bodies, we are incapable of having children." Hancock took the bottle from Danse and took it to the kitchen. He threw the bottles in the trash bin then headed for the front door. Before he stepped out he looked back at Danse with a grin. "They say when someone kisses your forehead it's a sign the person cares for you and wants to protect you." Hancock nodded at Danse then disappeared out the door.

Danse groaned as he placed his face in his hand. If Hancock knew Ann kissed him, then the whole settlement will know it too. Danse had thought maybe the alcohol had made it all up in his mind. Danse got up and took the power core out of his bag and walked over to his power armor. He still needed it cleaned after Ann had puked on it while he carried her here. Danse noticed the blood that was on the floor from Ann was now gone. Codsworth must have cleaned it up. When Danse got to his power armor he noticed it was clean also. Danse made a mental note to thank Codsworth next time he saw him.

Danse got into his power armor and headed to his home. When he got there he took his power armor back off and laid on his empty bed to sleep off the rest of the hangover. No more alcohol for him. Danse thought about the bridge and Ann. He touched the spot on his forehead where Ann had kissed him. He remembered what Hancock had said about ghouls not aging or having kids. Danse shook his head at the idea of being with a ghoul as his brotherhood instincts kicked in when the memories of his old friend from when he first joined the brotherhood popped into his mind.

(((((())))))

Shaun showed Ann how he took things apart and put them in bins organizing everything. He then handed Ann some tools and a few things for her to take apart.

Ann still had the splint on her left arm and was having a hard time working with the junk as stuff kept getting caught on the fabric. It also made it hard for Ann to move her hand very well because it was stiff from being wrapped with cloth and sticks. Ann couldn't stand it no more and took the cumbersome thing off. She flexed her hand and looked at her arm as It moved and felt ok. With a shrug she put the sticks in the wood pile and the ripped cloth into the fabric bin.

Ann and Shaun worked quietly on taking things apart and putting the parts where they belonged.

"Well look at you robot shrimp, looks like you got a new friend to play with." Ann looked up to see a young skinny boy with Sandy brown hair and green eyes. He looked to be About fourteen maybe fifteen. He had a cocky look to him as he stood there with his arms crossed.

Shaun looked up at the boy and smiled "Hey Duncan, this is Ann she's new here and can't talk."

Duncan rolled his eyes "I already know that robo boy, dad sent me over here to get you. He said he wants to show us something." Duncan looked at Ann "Nora wants to see you at the fire pit." Duncan then turned and walked away before Ann or Shaun could say anything. Ann watched him walk away, She didn't like the way this Duncan kid talked to Shaun.

Shaun put up all the tools then took Ann's hand "Come on let's go see what my mom and dad want." Ann followed Shaun as she looked around and realized it was noon. She and Shaun had spent the whole morning taking things apart. "Do you think you can come back and junk more stuff with me every morning?" Shaun asked Ann as they walked to the fire pit. Ann smiled at him and nodded her head yes. Shaun smiled as he gripped her hand tighter "Thank you, your awesome Aunt Ann."

Shawn led Ann to the fire pit. Ann saw a few people were sitting around the smoldering fire. There was a chill to the air, but it wasn't a bad chill, but it was enough to make the warmth from the fire pleasant.

When the people looked up at coming footsteps, Ann saw she knew nearly everyone. They were almost all the people she's met since waking up. The only people missing were Danse and that robot that she met back at the guest house.

Nora smiled at Shawn and Ann, "Good to see you two are here finally. Shawn, you and Duncan are going to do some target practice with your father." Nora hugged Shawn and smiled at him as his face lit up with excitement.

He ran over to MacCready and Duncan then turned to wave good bye to Ann.

Nora turned to Ann and motioned for her to sit anywhere around the fire. Ann sat in a chair by Daisy.

Daisy looked at Ann and smiled. When Daisy noticed the splint was gone from Ann's arm her smile faded, "Where's the splint I put on your arm. It's broken and won't heal right if you don't keep it wrapped and splinted." Daisy motioned at Ann's arm, Ann extended her arm towards Daisy. Daisy looked at Ann's arm and saw no swelling or bruising. Daisy was surprised to see the arm wasn't broken at all, just scarred like hers. Daisy wondered if maybe the arm hadn't been broken to begin with. "I guess your okay and didn't need the splint dear." Daisy patted Ann's arm and let it go.

Ann saw Nora holding a big brown and tan bag with mushrooms printed on it. Nora walked the bag over to Ann and handed it to her. "This is yours, it was the only thing you had with you when we found you." Nora handed the large bag to Ann and walked around the fire to sit with Hancock.

Ann looked down at the bag and tried to remember what was in it before she opened it. Nothing came to her mind as Ann opened the bag and looked inside.

She saw several things and reached into the bag to pull out a sketch pad and a box of color pencils first. Ann opened the sketch pad and saw It was blank.

Ann saw Daisy light up and smile when she saw the sketch pad and pencils. "You don't find paper and color pencils in the commonwealth that often dear."

Ann didn't feel attached to the paper or pencils and handed them over to Daisy.

Daisy's eyes widened. She shook her head as she looked at the pad of paper "Oh dear, you don't have to give me those I was just saying those are hard to come by…."

Ann placed the paper and pencils in Daisy's lap before she could finish talking. Daisy smiled and took hold of Ann's right hand and squeezed it thanking her. She then got up "I'm going to put this away so it stays safe" she turned quickly away from Ann and walked towards the guest house.

Ann looked back at the bag and pulled out a thin black box thing that fit in her hand and had a cord sticking out the bottom of it. She looked at it for a moment as she flipped it around In her hands trying to remember what it was. One side was smooth glass the other was textured plastic with painted writing on it. Ann read what was written. "Ann's cell phone, paws off!"

Ann now knew it was called a cell phone but still didn't know anything about it.

Ann saw there were buttons on the sides of the cell and tried pushing them. The cell lit up with a blue screen and played a quiet short chime as it turned on. The screen flicked on momentarily as it flashed a picture if a rectangle with a red bar in the bottom of it. The bottom of the screen said low battery, then it flicked off.

Ann looked up to see Nick was looking at her. The cell phone had caught his attention when it chimed.

Nick walk over to her sat next to Ann taking Daisy's empty spot. "Interesting gadget you got there."

Ann nodded her head in agreement as she put it in a side pocket for now.

Ann saw there was a wallet in the side pocket and pulled It out.

Ann opened it up and saw a thick plastic card with a picture of a woman on it. Ann pulled it out of the wallet and looked it over. The name on it was Ann Kaleen Collins. Ann figured the picture of the woman was of her. Ann read herself described as being five foot three, red hair, amber green eyes and two hundred ten pounds. Ann looked at her self and saw there was no way she was two hundred ten, she figured she was maybe just pushing a hundred pounds. Ann looked at the card again and saw her birth date was Sept 17 1985, Ann tried to remember what the current year was and wondered how old she was then she looked at the issue date on the card and saw it said 2015 and the expiration date was 2020.

Ann looked at Nick and pointed at the date on the card then handed it to him. Nick put his hand out and Ann gave Nick the card and waited for him to answer her.

Nick looked at the card then at Ann with a confused look on his face. He shook his head as he looked in Nora and Hancock's direction. "Nora, I found someone older then you." Nick called out to Nora as he shook his head in disbelief.

Nora walked over and looked at Nick. Nick handed her the card "A drivers license, haven't seen one since…." Nora looked at Ann. Then back at the card. "I think your right Nick, she is older Then me. If this is right she's about three hundred seven years old."

Ann silently laughed. She shook her head and looked at Nick and Nora. Ann silently shook as she laughed. There was no way she was over three hundred year's old, its just not possible.

Nick and Nora looked at each other with worried looks on there faces. "No, were serious Ann, it's the year 2292" Ann had been going through the wallet while they spoke to her to find something with a date on it and found a CPR and first aid card. It had her signature on it and was dated 2016 next to that.

Ann smiled as she knew they had to be playing a joke of some kind on her. Ann pointed at the CPR card and showed it to them.

Nick looked at it and then handed it back to Nora. "Physical age wise your thirty one, but time age wise your little over three hundred."

Nora placed her hand on Ann's shoulder "It's okay, I'm over two hundred. Its kind of nice knowing I'm no longer the oldest around here." The way Nick and Nora were acting Ann almost believed them. But smiled knowing they were just trying to make her laugh.

Nora shrugged her shoulders and handed Ann back the cards then walked back over to Hancock.

Ann put the cards back in the wallet and put it in the outer pocket with the cell phone. Ann finally pulled out a colorful bag that said happy birthday allover it. It was stapled shut and had a card taped to It with her name on it.

Ann opened the card and saw a one dollar bill fall out of it. Ann looked at the card and blushed through the scars on her face. It was a nearly naked man dancing on a pole. Ann opened the card and quickly read what it said. "Happy late birthday Ann, saw this card and it made me laugh remembering our fist time at the bar. Hope we can go again sometime soon. Hold on to the dollar till then, you know what it's for ;) Harley" Ann quickly shut the card and shoved it into the bag with the dollar.

Nick laughed and Ann knew he had seen the card.

Ann opened the gift bag and saw it had a small box in it that was wrapped up in blue and yellow paper with 111 and cogwheels printed all over it.

Ann pulled the small box out and saw there was a bunch of bottle caps at the bottom of the gift bag and a pocket watch.

Ann picked up the pocket watch and looked at it. It also had the cogwheel with the number 111 printed on the top of it. Ann opened the watch and saw it was ticking. As Ann closed the watch she heard Nick shift behind her. "You don't mind if I look at that do you?" He asked as Ann started to put the watch back.

Ann handed the watch over to Nick and he looked it over. His eyes widened as he got a better look at the top of the watch. He then opened up the watch and looked at it "Your watch is off, you don't mind of I set it do you?" Ann shook her head no that she didn't mind.

Nick got up and closed the watch, "I got to get the right time from Nora I'll be back over in a moment." Nick walked away towards Nora.

Ann looked back down at the bag and saw there was a wooden thing at the bottom of the bag under all the bottle caps. Ann saw it had a note taped to it. "I went ahead and charged this for you, it's an emergency power block for your cell if you ever need it." Ann looked it over and noticed the top of it had places where you could plug things in.

Ann got her cell back out and saw the cord that had been wrapped around it would fit into both the power block and the phone. Ann plugged the cord into the phone then into the power block.

As soon as she plugged the phone into the block she saw the phone light up and a rectangle appeared with a green bars going up. Under that it said, Charging.

Ann put the phone down to let it charge. She looked at the wrapped box and ripped the paper opening it a little to see what was wrapped inside.

Ann saw what was in the box through the plastic window and it confused her. The box said it was a bobble head. Ann looked at it then at Hancock then back down at the bobble head. It was a bobble head of Hancock.

Its eyes were white and it had patches of blond hair under the hat, but it was a bobble head of Hancock, but compared to him the bobble head was hideous. Ann didn't understand what was going on. Was Hancock famous? If he was why was he here in this ran down place? She looked back at Hancock who was now looking at her with concern on his face. Nick and Nora were also looking at her like they were worried about her.

Ann pulled the paper back over the bobble head to hide it and shoved it back in her bag.

Ann picked up the cell phone and pushed the same button that made it turn on earlier. This time it stayed on after the chime sound.

The phone showed a power armor holding a big gun firing it at a large green person. The words on the screen said swipe to unlock. Ann looked around the cell for a button to swipe and saw the screen reacted to her touching it. She swiped her finger across the screen and it switched to a new screen.

This one had a green back ground to it And a lot of tiny little pictures with words under them. Ann looked at them all and finally chose to pick the one that had a picture of a photo on it and said gallery under it tapping it to open it.

Ann saw a list of what were called folders. Ann picked the first one that was called Ann's stuff.

Ann saw pictures of a green yard full of chickens. There was a picture of her old self standing with a group of young boys in front of a silver car. Ann didn't recognize the people or the person that was her according to the drivers license.

Ann saw pictures of chickens. Then she saw pictures of trucks driving through mud, one picture had a guy smiling at her from one of the trucks. Ann felt sad when she looked at this picture. She felt she should know who this person was but there name wouldn't pop into her mind.

Ann saw the next picture had a triangle with a circle over it and when she touched it the screen changed. Ann watched as the picture started moving with sound. It was a large group of people all around the camera looking at it. One of them was holding a birthday cake that said happy birthday Ann. The phone got really loud as the group of people started to sing happy birthday. Ann watched as the candles were blown out from her point of view. Then the view changed as she saw she was the one who blew out the candles. Ann was now looking at her old self as everyone gathered behind her. Ann could hear some one tell the crowd to say whiskey. When everyone did there was a flash and everyone laughed as they all dispersed. Then the video stopped playing. Ann could feel tears running down her scarred cheeks and she felt her heart breaking as deep sadness of loosing something that meant the world to her filled her heart.

She didn't know who these people were, but was crying because these people apparently meant something special to her and she had just forgotten them like they were nothing. Ann couldn't handle it no more and had intended to toss the cell back into the bag, but It missed and landed in the dirt with a cloud of dust. Ann wanted to throw the bag into the fire but instead let it drop to the ground as she got up, evgerything spilling out of the bags and on to the ground, Ann didn't care if someone stole the bag and everything that was in it. Ann decided that bag was not hers anymore.

Ann walked quietly away from the fire pit wiping tears from her eyes as she looked for the bridge where she had found Danse sitting before. She was hoping Danse might still be there, but he wasn't when she found it. Ann sat on the bridge and watched the water flow under it.

After awhile Ann heard footsteps approach her. When Ann looked up it was Nora. She held out her hand and Ann saw she was holding the pocket watch.

Ann shook her head and pushed Nora's hand back, "keep it." Ann said in a breathy whisper feeling her throat ache. Ann decided she didn't want anything from her past life. She didn't care if the bag was burned or what, just so as long as she didn't have to look at anything in it again.

Nora placed a hand on Ann's shoulder "I know how it feels to wake up in a strange world that's completely different from the one you knew."

Ann laughed. She wished she could talk so she could explain to Nora she didn't remember anything from her past. That this world is the only world she knew. It's the fact she couldn't remember her past or who she was is what was bothering her the most.

Ann looked up at Nora and shook her head, Ann took a deep breath and let it out slow. She didn't want a pity party. She just wanted some where quiet to gather her self. Ann looked at her hands and remembered how much better she felt working with them while with Shaun. Ann finally decided she just wanted to do something with her hands and forget everything. Ann looked at Nora and held her hands up and mouthed "work?" Ann stood up and looked at Nora.

Nora smiled as she nodded her head in understanding. She motioned for Ann to fallow her. "Their is lots of work that you can do around here to help out." Ann followed Nora to a large garden area. "This is the community garden, winter is coming and we are trying to harvest as much as we can before then. This is the main project everyone works on in the fall before winter hits, but if you need a break from working here you can always junk things with Shaun if you want. Then there is always repairs that are needed around here. If you ask Sturgis he will show you how to do things. He's always happy to have help with repairs." Nora led Ann to a woman who was in the middle of the garden. "This is June, just ask her what needs to be done and she'll show you." Nora then walked off back to the fire pit.

((((()))))

Hancock watched Nora give Ann a brown and tan bag when Shaun and Ann joined them at the pit.

Nora then walked over to him and sat next to him. She looked over at Hancock "Got any smokes John ?"

He pulled a pack of out of his coat pocket and handed it to Nora "Here love just take the pack, and don't give me that I'm tryin to quit brahma shit, you and I both know damn well that aint happening anytime soon."

Nora sighed, as she took the pack from him "Damn it Hancock, just when I think your being the good guy for once you go and blow it by trying to kill me slowly." Nora grabbed the pack and tapped it on her leg as she took his gold lighter. She pulled a cigarette out of the pack and lit it.

Hancock took his lighter back and smiled "You know me, I'm everyone's bad influence."

Nora nodded at Ann "So far you've been her good influence, I've seen how you have been following her around. You hot on her or what?"

Hancock was about to answer Nora but they heard Nicks voice "Nora, I found someone older then you." Nora rolled her eyes and got up "Rain check on that answer John, I'll be back in a moment" Nora walked away from Hancock and went over to Nick and Ann.

Hancock smiled when he glanced at Ann, he had wanted to be romantically involved with her at first, but he some how felt more like it was his job to protect her and keep her safe. He felt protective over her after watching her be reborn into a ghoul. She was the first person he got to see the whole process happen too. He had seen others turn, but they all ended up being feral. Ann was the first non feral he got to witness.

After watching her he was glad he missed out on everything. He also noticed there was something different about her from other non feral ghouls that intrigued him. She was the first non feral that he's met that woke up with no memory of their past. Every ghoul he has ever met remembered there past and who they were, but they always were missing something though. With Daisy he noticed she got sad and distant while she listened to music, looked at paintings or read books. With Kent, he seamed to get sad when he looked at the cars left to rot in the streets. Then their was Bobby no nose, when she was still alive, she would always get sad when she looked at children. All ghouls he met had that one thing that made them sad and distant.

He hadn't found what it was that made him sad and distant yet. Then again he didn't do much more then take care of his town, drink, do chems and have wild sex romps with random women.

Hancock watched Nora as she walked back to him with a worried look on her face. She then sat back down next to him.

Hancock looked at Nora, and answered her question from earlier before she spoke "I'm not hot on her, I just feel like it's my job to watch over her and protect her." He smiled as he remembered back at the guest house from that morning. He had watched her try to take on a Mr. Handy with a broom because she wanted to protect him.

"That's good, I was worried you just wanted to have sex with her. She's kind of at a bad point in her life right now. Nick just showed me her drivers license. John, she's over three hundred years old. She doesn't even know what year this is, she insisted that it was 2016 when Nick and I tried to tell her what year it really was. According to the drivers license, she was born in 1985."

Hancock laughed like Ann had but with his deep voice instead of her silent one "That's a good one Nora" he then looked over at her and saw she was serious. Hancock stopped laughing "Your fucking serious, Shit, I'm beginning to think I was right with Danse."

Nora looked at Hancock odd "What did you talk to Danse about?" she asked as she picked her still lit cigarette back up and inhaled on it.

Hancock took a deep breath and looked at Nora he was about to tell her when Nick walked over with something in his hand. Nick held his hand out to Nora. She reached out with her hand and Nick placed a pocket watch in it. "Take a look at what's on top of it and in side of it. This proves why I don't think she comes from our world, especially after how you told me you found her Nora."

Hancock huffed at Nick "Damn it Nick, I was about to tell her that." Hancock heard Nora gasp as she turned the pocket watch over and saw the top of it. It was the vault 111 door. Nora opened it and saw it was working, but the time was off. Then she noticed something small written under the lid that in no way was possible.

Made in China.

Nothing here in America was ever made in China, they had been the one's trying to take everything for them selves.

"I think your right Nick, I just thought she might have been teleported from somewhere here in the commonwealth. I figured from her clothes and her body that maybe she was a traveler visiting from some other part of the country. God that poor woman. This all must be so much for her take in." Nora looked at Ann with worry.

Hancock had looked up to see Ann was looking at him with and odd expression on her face. She was holding something in her hands, she looked back down at it then back at him. Hancock watched her with concern as she shoved whatever it was back in the bag.

Hancock turned to Nora and watched her stare at the pocket watch for a moment, lost in her thoughts. He then spoke to her when he saw her cigarette ash fall to the ground. "I don't think she cares about the past since she says she can't remember it…."

Hancock suddenly heard voices singing. He looked around and realized it was coming from the black thing Ann was holding. The voices were singing happy birthday. He watched as Ann's face got dark with sadness. The same look he saw her give when she first smelled the campfire from last night. Ann tried to toss the black thing into the bag and missed, she then stood up making the bag on her lap spill over and everything that was in it fell out onto the ground. Then Ann just walked away quietly. He started to get up, but Nora placed her hand on his leg "I'll go talk to her, help Nick pick her stuff up while I'm gone. Just put it all in my house when you guys are done." Nora smiled at him then got up to follow Ann.

Hancock took a deep breath and shrugged his shoulders. He walked over to the spilled bag as Nick picked up the black thing, looked it over then slipped it into his pocket with the cord and the wooden thing still attached to it. Hancock glared at him. Nick looked at Hancock and grinned "I'm not stealing it, I just want to look at it later to find out more about her is all, I'll give it back to Nora when I'm done." Nick nodded at the small box wrapped in the blue and yellow vault 111 paper.

Hancock picked it up and saw it was the thing Ann had been looking at when she had looked at him odd. Hancock picked it up and pulled back the paper. He about dropped the damn thing it was so hideous looking. Its eyes were white and it was barring it's teeth at him. Hancock looked at the box and saw it was called a bobble head. He then read his name printed under that

That's when Hancock paused and saw that it did in a way look like him. It had his coat and hat, but it also had chunks of blond hair. The fucking thing was hideous.

Hancock heard Nick laugh next to him. "I wouldn't blame you if you accidentally dropped that in the fire." Hancock looked at it and remembered the look Ann gave him after looking at it. Hancock tossed the thing into the fire "Oops, I dropped it, I'm just going to have to tell Ann sorry if she wanted that." Hancock smiled as the hideous thing burned.

Hancock turned back to the stuff on the ground and started tossing things back in to the bag. He noticed there were bottle caps mixed in and looked at them as he tossed them into the bag. None of them were Nuka cola or any of the local beers. Some had names like Budweiser and Dr. Pepper printed on them, others had just a XXX on them. A lot of them were green with an old man holding a jug with the top popping off through his hat. Hancock shook his head at the bottle caps.

Hancock saw a small black book that had things stuffed through out it. He read the cover "Ann's journal, don't you dare fucking read it." Hancock resisted the urge to defy the words on the cover, and tossed it in the bag. He handed it to Nick and watched him take it to Nora's house.

It was now late in the afternoon and Hancock felt his skin tingle. He smiled knowing a rad storm was brewing in the south and he made plans to make sure to be awake when it came. He loved rad storms, radiation was a ghouls best friend and rad storm's always provided a ghoul with all the radiation they could ever want. Hancock headed back to the guest house to take a nap.

Ann had started working in the garden after Nora left. Ann worked quietly and mindlessly. She loved it since she could just work and forget everything. While Ann worked she could hear JR teaching the boys how to snipe cans off a target practice area he had set up for them on a concrete slab near the garden. Ann absent mindedly listened to everything JR told the boys as she worked on clearing out weeds and harvesting the ripe fruits and vegetables. After a few hours the Sun started setting and JR told the boys he would teach them more tomorrow with uncle Hancock and told them to go to the fire pit to get something to eat.

JR then walked over to Ann. "You really should take a break and get some stew also."

Ann smiled at JR and shook her head no as her stomach turned just thinking about the stew. She pointed at a few long rows of carrots that still needed to be harvested.

He nodded his head at her "All right, but I'll make sure some gets saved for you if you change your mind, you worked hard for it today." JR walked away from Ann to the fire pit.

Ann stayed at the garden to continue harvesting fruits and vegetables. She was so involved with working she didn't notice the sky darkening or how it turned a sick green color. She was pulling on a carrot when a streak of green lightning flashed across the sky.

Ann froze in terror. She didn't understand why she was so deeply terrified. When the sound of thunder hit it was amplified by her sharp hearing and it hurt her head. Ann held her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut as she screamed in terror. Her throat was now painful, raw and sore, she could also taste blood in her mouth. The lightning flashed again, this time making her skin prickle like tiny bubbles were popping all over her skin tickling her. When the lightning streaked across the sky again Ann looked around for somewhere to hide. The following loud sound of the thunder made her disoriented and more terrified.

Ann tried to find the guest house, but was in so much fear, shock and pain. She blindly bolted out of the garden to a house that looked like the guest house and ran to it. She pushed the door open and ran to a corner of the front room where she curled herself up into a ball to make herself as small as possible, she squeezed her eyes shut and held her hands over her ears to block out the deafening sound of the thunder. She jumped when she could still see the horrible flashes of lightning through her closed eyes. Ann screamed again wanting everything to stop, tasting blood again in her mouth from her throat becoming even more raw then before. Ann suddenly felt strong arms wrap around her and hold her protectively.

"Its ok, it's just a rad storm. It's not going to hurt you." Ann recognized Danse's voice and opened her eyes to see he was sitting on the floor with her in his arms. The sound of the thunder made her jump and she covered her ears again as her face contorted into pain from the sound hurting them. Danse placed his hand over her hand on her ear and held her head against his chest. She could hear his heart beating fast. She closed her eyes and tried to calmed down. They both sat there like that for about an hour before the storm let up and it started to weaken.

(((((())))))

Danse had been sitting in his kitchen at the table cleaning his guns in preparation for the next day. Nora had asked him to help with training Shaun and Duncan how to hunt and protect them selves. She knew Danse was skilled in more ways then just guns, and had asked him to show them everything. Danse figured he would start with small guns, then hand to hand combat and finally melee weapons. He was looking forward to training again as it reminded him of training young initiates in the brotherhood.

He heard the first peal of thunder after green lightning lit up the sky. Danse looked out his kitchen window when he heard someone scream not that far away from his house as the thunder shook the Windows. Danse quickly stood up and grabbed for his gun before realizing it was in pieces on the table in front of him.

The sky lit up again and more thunder shook the house. Danse remembered the spare gun he kept hidden in the couch in the front room. He started running to it when his door flew open and someone ran inside like they were running from a Deathclaw. He stopped when he saw it was Ann as she fled to a dark corner of the room and tried to hide. He didn't know what to do. Danse suddenly saw Nick and Hancock were standing in his front door looking at Ann then at him. Hancock nodded at Ann and Danse gave him a puzzled look.

Nick narrowed his glowing eye's at Danse, pointed at him then at Ann, then in a quiet but demanding voice he spoke "Comfort her dumb ass, she's terrified!"

Danse couldn't understand why he needed to be the one to do it. "Why me?" he mouthed back at the other two men.

Before Hancock or Nick could reply the lightning flashed again and Ann squeezed her self tighter into a ball and let out a terrified scream that made Danse cringe. He rushed over to her and held her close to him. He could feel her shaking. He looked down at her ghoul face, and saw the bandage from where his bullet grazed her was still wrapped around the top part of her head. Danse then noticed she had blood seeping out the corners of her mouth.

Danse didn't know what to do or say. Ways to handle situations like this were not taught in the brotherhood. He looked at Nick for help.

Nick put his metallic hand to his face and shook his head then he looked at Danse and mouthed to him to comfort her.

Danse looked down at the ghoul in his arms and said the first thing he could think of, "It's ok, it's just a rad storm. It's not going to hurt you." She stopped shaking and looked up at him with her uniquely colored eyes. He saw her relax a little, but she jumped when the sound of thunder shook the house again. He saw her face contort with pain as she closed her eyes and quickly covered her ears again.

Danse realized the loud thunder was hurting her so he held his hand over her hand that was all ready covering her ear and pressed her other ear against his chest. He looked up to see Hancock standing over him with a rare serious look on his face.

Hancock knelt down to Danse and quietly whispered uncomfortably close in his ear "You ask why? Aside from Shaun, you are the only other person in this town she has opened up too. Even after you shot her, she for some reason has decided to trust you more then any one here. Ya know she looked for you at that damn bridge today? Don't hurt her Danse, or so fucking help me I will plant my fist so hard into your face you will be seeing stars for weeks." Hancock quietly got up and walked out the door. Nick nodded good bye at Danse and shut the door as he walked away.

After sitting there in silence for an hour the storm died down and Ann pulled away from Danse looking at him. He looked into her eyes and asked "Are you ok now?" she nodded her head. Danse let go of her and stood up. He held his hand out to Ann to help her up. Ann grabbed his hand and mouthed thank you at him as she got up.

Danse watched her as she looked around his nearly empty house.

Other then the table with two chairs in the kitchen, he had a couch, a coffee table and a tool chest where he kept his guns and ammo in the living room. He held his hand out to his couch "Welcome to my house, just find a spot to sit in one of the many places available."

He saw Ann's eyes widen as she looked at Danse with a horrified look on her face and mouthed "I'm sorry" and started to rush for the door, face red with embarrassment.

Danse groaned at his self, if Hancock saw her leave his house like that he was going to hear about it. "You don't have to leave, I understand you were terrified, I can't begin to tell you how many times I found Hancock passed out drunk on my couch because he got my house and the guest house mixed up, I think it's because the two houses are painted the same." Hancock had been damn lucky Haylen was around all those times or he probably wouldn't be here today.

Danse saw Ann stop and look back at him silently laughing. Probably at the thought of Hancock passed out drunk on the wrong couch.

Danse watched Ann look over at the kitchen and look at the table covered in gun parts. He was happy to see her face light up with curiosity. Danse smiled as he walked over to his chair and sat down. "I was cleaning my guns when you came in."

He picked up a part and went back to cleaning it. He watched her sit in the other chair across from him with a look of genuine interest as she watched him work on his guns. She looked at him like she wanted to ask a million questions about how everything went together. Danse started talking like he was teaching an initiate and explained what each part was as he rebuilt his guns slowly putting them back together one piece at a time. When he was done all the guns looked like New and shone in the light. "A soldiers best friend is a well cleaned and well oiled gun. Neglect your gun and it could cost you your life." Ann smiled at Danse as she nodded her head.

Talking while putting his guns back together made him thirsty. He got up and walked to the kitchen and walked back to the table with two cans of purified water. He offered one to Ann and she smiled as she took the water.

When Ann took a drink he saw her cringe slightly as pain flashed across her face. Danse looked at her concerned. When she saw the concern on his face she quickly smiled to hide the pain but the tears in her eyes told him she was still in some kind of pain.

Danse sat awkwardly at the table not knowing what to say or do as he looked at the can of water in his hands. He looked up at Ann when he heard her stomach growl "Are you hungry? I don't have much since I don't eat much, but I think I might have some MRE's left over from when I was in the brotherhood. They say that stuff can last for ever." Danse got up and went to the kitchen before she could answer him and opened a cabinet pulling out two packages that were oddly shaped because they were vacuum sealed. He handed one to Ann.

She took it and looked at the package. Danse had given her the beef stew one since it was one of the better tasting ones.

He watched her face frown at the package when she read what was in it. Then she shook her head and smiled politely at him as she opened it.

He realized she was trying to be polite in eating it. He was about to tell her she didn't need to eat it if she didn't want to but she had already pulled the plastic spoon out of it.

Ann got a spoon full and put it in her mouth. Her face lit up when she tasted it. Danse knew at that point she really was pouring on the politeness. The MRE's were known to be highly bland and flavorless. They didn't taste bad, but neither did they taste good. They just existed to be eaten. He watched Ann flinch when she swallowed the food. Danse realized it was her throat that must be hurting her then remembered the blood that was in the corners of her mouth earlier and wondered if she had hurt her self when she screamed. He then watched her eat the MRE like it was the first thing she ate since waking up.

Danse realized it was less then twenty four hours ago she was still human and had smooth skin like him.

Danse shook his head and laughed as she finished the MRE, and sat back in his chair with a satisfied look on her face. "Got to say that's the first time I ever saw anyone enjoy one off those without complaining. One MRE will keep a soldier going for a few days." He opened his and ate it cringing at how flavorless it was.

He looked at Ann and smiled "Makes me miss Haylens cooking." He saw Ann give him that look that he knew by now meant she wanted to ask questions but didn't have the voice to ask them.

Danse wondered for a moment if there was any way possible for her to communicate with out her voice. He almost slapped his self in the face when the idea hit him it was so simple. Paper and pencil was all she would need.

Danse got up and walked to a closet in the hallway. He came back to the table with a few pencils and some papers.

He set the paper and pencils down in front of Ann and sat back down.

Ann looked at Danse with tears in her eye's.

Danse frowned regretting his idea. If he wasn't trying to point a gun at this woman he was somehow making her cry. He shook his head and apologized, "Damn it, I'm making you cry again, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you if I have." He watched as Ann shook her head pick up the pencil and start writing.

Ann turned the paper for him to read. "I'm crying because I'm happy, I've been unable to talk or explain my self to any one. The few times I did try to say something, like when we were at the bridge, was very painful. You have given me a way to communicate thank you"

He smiled after reading the paper. He then looked at her and every question he had for her from before was buzzing through his head, but before he could ask her anything she wrote something on the paper. "I'm sorry I scared you this morning when I first woke up, you don't have to be upset, I know I look hideous. When I first saw myself in the bathroom mirror, I thought there was a monster in the bathroom and threw a bar of soap at it but I realized it was me when the mirror shattered… I think that's what terrified me the most"

Danse felt his heart break when he read what she wrote. He shook his head "No, it's not your fault I was so upset at that bridge, I had a moment of weakness and was acting like an idiot, if you had not came to me when you did, I would have done some thing stupid." Danse glanced at the gun and Ann picked up the pencil again. She glared at him for a moment before writing furiously. "Don't ever do anything stupid like that again! Life may get shitty at times, but never give up hope! Look at me, I'm hideous, I have no memory of who I was, just these stupid feelings of random sadness at random things. Nora gave me a bag she said was mine. It had a bunch of stuff in it that was, I guess, mine at one point. I wanted to burn it but ended up leaving it at the fire pit in hope that some one will steal it, I never want to see it again."

Danse finished reading what she wrote and sat back. He didn't know how to respond. "I understand in a way how you feel. I found out about five years ago that I was not a real human when it was discovered that I was a synth. I was ready to die then because I thought of my self as a hideous man made abomination." He saw confusion on Ann's face. Danse sighed as he looked down at his gun on the table knowing the question she wanted to ask. "I'm a synth, I'm what is called a gen three. It means my brain is robotic and the rest of me might be real, but was created in a lab. I am programmed to function as much like a human as possible with memories of my past implanted. I don't know when or how long I've been a machine."

Danse saw Ann process what he had said. Danse figured it was better for her to know the truth now then to find out later.

Ann picked up the pencil and wrote slowly. "You're a machine like Nick?" She looked up at Danse as he nodded his head. "Nick is a prototype, he is in a way, like my older brother. He was the first one to have a human mind and personality implanted into a synth body." Danse remembered Nick would visit him often to make sure he was doing ok before he became mayor of diamond city. Danse wondered If Nick being here at Sanctuary meant they finally elected a New mayor.

Ann started writing again "Why would you think of your self as an abomination? You think, you definitely have feelings, and you care deeply. You are just as much human as Shaun is" Ann looked confused when Danse burst out laughing.

Danse laughed aloud for a moment and he finally spoke when he caught his breath, "Shaun is a synth also, he is a gen 4, my little brother so to say." Danse continued to laugh.

Ann wrote "Is everyone not like me a synth?"

Danse shook his head "No there are real people, synths, ghouls, and mutants."

As the night went on Ann asked Danse all kinds of questions about the Commonwealth. Danse continued to answer all Ann's questions as best as he could.

By the time morning came there was a stack of papers sitting on the table. Danse was tired but felt more alive and awake in Ann's presence then he's ever felt before. The more they had talked through the night, the more he saw of her personality. She was kind and open-minded. She cared deeply and was free spirited. She had a way of making him laugh that no one else had before. The more he talked to her, the less he noticed she was a ghoul.

Danse was sitting there at the table watching her write. This time she didn't let him see what she was writing. When she finished she folded the paper up. On another paper she wrote "I can't believe I've kept you awake another night, I would stay longer but I had promised Shaun I would help him junk stuff in the mornings. Thank you for the paper and pencil. I was starting to get frustrated not being able to communicate." Ann blushed as she kissed his forehead again, gave him the folded paper in her hands and left.

Danse opened the paper and read what she wrote. "You tell me you're a synth, but I see nothing synthetic about you. I've seen you laugh, cry, and look at me with concern. You held me when I was terrified and in pain. Danse, you may have been created in a lab, but your soul was not. You are human Danse. Being human is not based on what your body is made out of. It's who you've made your self to be that defines yourself as human." Danse sat there reading and rereading the letter. He felt tears fall across his face, damn that woman, now she's got him crying. He smiled as he folded the paper and put it in the tool box where he kept his guns. He placed it in the drawer where he kept his old holotags from the brotherhood.


	6. Dansen with the devil under a pale moon

A figure wearing a hazmat suit was looking down at a group of ghouls while leaning over the railing. They were standing on a metal platform that hung over the large group of ghouls. Most ghouls were just walking mindlessly around, the ones that saw the figure were trying to get to get to them by swiping at the empty air under the platform and were snarling at them frustration.

The figure looked at the corner of the room and saw the three ghouls that were better dressed, they stayed quiet and huddled away from the figure with fear on there faces. Those ghouls called them selves non ferals. The Wild ghouls left the non ferals alone but they always tried to get at the figure when they saw or smelled them.

The figure didn't care if the ghouls were wild or not, all ghouls were the same, they were all foul and evil.

The figure turned when they heard footsteps approach them. There standing in front of the figure was the man that had tried to pull Ann off the platform. He had a gunshot wound in his leg and was limping. The figure put a hand on their hip as if annoyed and spoke out of a speaker that was built into the hazmat suit. "Did you accomplish the task Atom had set fourth for you?"

The man hung his head "No mam, we were ambushed and lost the one who came through the teleporter"

The figure stood up straight. They were thankful for the hazmat suit. The figure knew from past encounters, this children of Atom priest had a horrid decaying smell coming from him. He was an advanced new breed of ghoul.

Most ghouls when they turn would show on the outside. All the Children of Atom followers were a new form of smooth skinned ghouls. "It worked? You were able to pull someone through with the teleporter?"

The priest smiled and spoke with amazement. "Yes, it worked just like you said it would. Atom blessed us with a being from one of his many world's." the man had a look of wonder on his face.

The figure in the hazmat suit walked closer to the priest. "Where may I ask is this perfect being that Atom blessed us with?"

The priest's face turned dark. "She was taken from us, a lot of my followers lost their lives trying to get her back. I was escorting her from the teleporter when she hit me and I let go of her. Then, when brother Thomas was trying to make her more compliant with his bat, a woman, a dog and a man in power armor ambushed us and kidnapped her."

The figure shook they're head as they turned from the priest and put there hands on the railing. Had to be fucking Nora and her damn dog. The one in the power armor could be anyone of her companions. The figure smiled as they looked down at the ghouls.

If the next set of tests were successful then the commonwealth will soon exist as a blank spot on future maps.

The figure watched the ghouls for a moment. The wild one's worked ok for general tests and experiments, but it was the non ferals that tended to produce the best results. The only problem was non ferals were hard to come by. Only about a handful of them existed in the commonwealth. The figure looked over The ghouls. There was a large number of wild ghouls and only a family of non ferals. The figure watched the pair of ghouls holding onto each other with a child ghoul in front of them.

The figure had been waiting for the right time to use them. They were getting good results with the wild ghouls, but now was the time to use the three ghouls to see if her creation truly was ready.

"It's time to step the tests up to the next level. I want those three ghouls prepped and ready for experimentation. I want them ready for me in my lab." The figure then turned to the door leading to the radiation free room then stopped. "The one chosen by Atom, do you at least know where she was taken?" The figure asked as they turned back to look at the Priest.

He looked down at a wild ghoul under his feet. "She was taken to Sanctuary Hills according to my sources listening to the radio transmissions."

The priest could hear the figure take a deep breath and exhale it in frustration. "I'll talk to my college about getting her back, just have those three ghouls ready for testing."

The figure walked past the priest to enter a rad scrubber room that led to the radiation free room. When the doors shut the figure pushed a red button to clean the hazmat suit of radiation.

When the doors opened to the clean ,safe, radiation free room, the figure removed their helmet and took a deep breath of fresh air. It wasn't as fresh as what the institute air had been, but it was much better then what was in the hazmat suit.

There was a woman standing in power armor looking at a terminal. You could see through the legs of her power armor and see she herself had no legs of her own. The woman looked up at the figure and smiled. "Well Madison, what did the priest have to say?"

Dr. Madison Li took off the rest her hazmat suit and hung it up. "It some how worked, the teleportation device somehow worked." Madison had told the children of Atom some random made up brahma bullshit about how to set up Nora's old teleportation equipment to teleport a Devine being. She didn't expect it to work, she just told them some made up crap about how to build it so they would let her use this facility and maybe trust her.

They probably just teleported some poor soul from around here in the commonwealth, but still, it was fascinating to know it worked. Better yet, the Children Of Atom will probably be more willing to do anything she asked of them now.

Proctor Ingram turned to Madison and walked towards her with a smile. "What did they do with this person?" Ingram asked in a curious tone of voice.

Madison frowned. "Sounds like they lost her to Nora and one of her people. I can't wait to destroy everything she has accomplish in the commonwealth the same way she destroyed the institute and the brotherhood. I had friends in both places that suffered horribly because of her."

Ingram looked at the ground and nodded in agreement. "I know, I miss Arthur most of all. We had to bury what was left of his remains in the rubble of the Prydwyn. It had to be pure luck running into you the way we did." Ingram got closer to Madison.

Madison smiled remembering the encounter. She had just got herself a place to live south of GoodNeighbor after being 'rescued' from the Institute before Nora destroyed it. She had been trying plot her revenge on Nora back then. She had saw Proctor Ingram walking with what was left of the broken Brotherhood from the Prydwyn. Madison offered them safety and a place to stay while they recovered. Slowly over time they evolved into a new force to be reckoned with in the commonwealth. They were even able to recruit most of the gunners to help them with their mission.

Madison smiled at Ingram as she grabbed the front of her power armor and pulled her closer. The two women stared deeply into each others eyes before pulling in to kiss each other passionately.

Madison pulled back to get some air. "Lets put a rain check on it love, I've got to run the last test to confirm if what we've been working on so far has been successful. I'm going ahead with the non feral testing. I don't want to know a couple of ghouls somehow managed a child, but if these tests work, are you going to have enough fire power to do what needs to be done."

Ingram stepped back from Madison with a wicked grin on her face. "Oh, yes and then some. I've got enough soldiers under my command to get every last ghoul the commonwealth has to offer."

Madison narrowed her eyes at Ingram "Even the one Nora keeps for a pet, the one that calls it's self Mayor of GoodNeighbor?"

Ingram grinned even wider "I've got special forces on stand bye just for him and every other ghoul in that pathetic excuse for a town, He's not there now, but as soon as I get word he's back, you better believe my special forces will be deployed there to gather every last ghoul out of that fucking shit hole."

Madison had gotten her gloves from the closet next to the hazmat suit and her lab coat. She put on her medical face shield and smiled at Ingram. "Its time to get these tests done. Soon liberty prime will have the power he needs to rise again"

Billy and his parents had over heard that horrid woman tell that disgusting priest they were to be prepped for testing. When they took the feral ghouls for testing they would never come back.

Billy's mother and father started crying as they all held onto each other tightly. They then looked down at Billy. Billy's father smiled and wiped a tear from his face "Son, know that we will always love you, remember me and your mother and don't ever forget us." He then lowered his head as he watched Billy's mother fall to her knees and wrap her arms around Billy, she was crying so hard she couldn't talk.

"Mom, you and dad were the only things on my mind while I was trapped in that fridge. The thought of you guys is what kept me going, I can't just leave both if you here to just die" Billy had tears falling down his face. He spent two hundred years locked in a fridge after the bombs fell. Two hundred years of silent darkness. Nora and Hancock were the first people he saw when he walked out of that darkness five years ago. They helped reunite him with his family.

A few weeks ago some people dressed in black shot him and his family with darts from syringer guns in there home.

When Billy woke up he was lying on a metal floor with a loud thumping sound above him. When he looked around he saw his mother and father were still out. They were tied together and Billy found he was tied up separate from them. He looked the other way and saw the ground was moving under the metal platform.

He realized he was in one of those Vertibird things the brotherhood had flown around in. He watched as the Quincy ruins faded away and got smaller. The ground became barren and desolate. He had watched as they approached a pyramid looking building as they circled around it to land. Billy could feel the place was burning with radiation.

Billy felt the radiation being absorbed into his body and it made him feel stronger and better then he ever felt before.

Billy's mother looked up at him and placed her hand on the side of his face. "Oh Billy, we will always be with you, even if we are not with you physically we will be with you in your thoughts and memories. We love you and this is the last thing we ever wanted."

Billy's father stepped forward and gently pulled Billy's mother off Billy he looked down at Billy and gave him a stern look "Billy you have a mission now, you need to find Nora and tell her what's going on here. She needs to know. She and her friends saved us all before, hopefully she can do it again. Billy you must escape and live, do you hear me son? Live." With that Billy's mother and father nodded at each other and led Billy to the catwalk where that woman had been standing.

Billy's mother helped Billy up to his fathers shoulders and watched with sadness as he pulled his self up to the catwalk.

Billy gave them one last look "I love you mom and dad, I'll be back with help to get you guys out of here." He then turned before the tears could blur his eyes and he ran.

He had tried to escape before but had gotten caught. This time he wasn't going to get caught. Maybe if he got to Nora in time his parents might be saved. That thought alone made him push forward and take his time this time.

His parents had told him they were in the glowing sea when Billy described to them what he saw while on the Vertibird. They told him that if he were to ever escape he needed to go north to reach Nora's main settlement that she called Sanctuary, Billy's father had gave him a compass when they had first been reunited as a way for Billy to always find his way home back to them.

Billy didn't look back as he quickly and quietly made his way through the facility. When Billy finally made it out of the facility he looked at the compass and watched it point north. With determination to save his parents he started his journey north to Sanctuary.

(((((())))))

Hancock was sitting at the campfire with Nick waiting for the rad storm to blow in. He had just woke up and was starting to drink a cup of coffee with his usual shot of whisky added to it to give it that extra special kick.

He watched a bolt of lightning streak across the sky and smiled as he felt the radiation make his skin prickle. It was like millions of small blissful bubbles exploding across his skin. The only thing that felt better was sex. Hancock, now that he was more awake, looked around the settlement. "Nick, where's Ann, the radiation in this storm will help her heal faster." Hancock finally spotted her in the garden when she suddenly stood up. She had a terrified look on her face.

Nick nodded in the direction of the garden without looking away from the fire he was poking at. "She's been working in the garden all day…" The rad storm thunder cut him off as the loud thunder sounded like it rolled in and out of sanctuary.

Hancock watched as Ann covered her ears and let out a terrified, blood curdling scream.

Hancock and Nick jumped up at the same time and ran to the garden.

When the lightning flashed again with another roll of thunder Ann looked wildly around like she was looking for a place to hide.

Hancock saw her look at Danse's house and take off running to it. "Fuck, she probably thinks that's the guest house!" Hancock yelled to Nick.

Nick took a look and sure enough the two houses were painted alike. He spoke to Hancock as they ran after Ann. "Let's just hope Danse is cleaning his guns, you know he'll shoot her if she barges in on him." Nick was running a little faster then Hancock. Ann was running like a Deathclaw was on her heals and neither he nor Hancock would have caught up to her.

"I know, can't tell you how many times he nearly shot me when I walked in drunk off my ass, If it weren't for Haylen a few times I would've had a bullet lodged in my head." Hancock remembered the times he had even walked in not drunk, but acted like it just to fuck with Danse.

Nick and Hancock saw her burst through the door and run inside.

When they got to the door they saw Danse standing in his kitchen with a confused look on his face.

Ann was in the corner of his empty front room, crying and curled into a ball with her hands over her ears.

Hancock looked at Danse and tried to motion to him to go to Ann. Danse just looked at Hancock like he didn't understand. Hancock wanted to yell at him, but it was Nick that spoke first as he pointed at Danse then at Ann. "Comfort her, Dumb ass!" Nick hissed at him.

When Danse whispered "Why me" at Nick and Hancock, Hancock was ready to run in and slap Danse upside the head for being so fucking stupid.

Anyone with half a brain could tell Ann was interested in him for some unknown reason. Hancock would have guessed she would have been more interested in him after seeing her tattoo of himself on her back.

When lightning struck close by and the thunder shook the house Ann screamed louder then the last time and Hancock could see flecks of blood fly out of her mouth. His heart broke for her knowing the pain her throat was probably now in. He knew from experience that her throat was already raw just from becoming a ghoul. He wondered if she would even be able to talk after making her throat raw to the point of bleeding.

He watched Danse jump at her scream and run to her, sit next to her and pull her on to his lap and hold her with her head on his chest.

Hancock resisted the urge to clap his hands.

Danse then looked up at Nick for help on what to do next.

Hancock heard Nick mutter under his breath as he put the palm of his metal hand on his face. "Don't tell me I have to fucking tell him how to be a damn man?" Hancock watched Nick mouth to Danse to fucking comfort her.

In popular Danse fashion, Hancock heard Danse lamely tell Ann that it was ok, that it was just a rad storm.

Hancock was surprised to see it worked. She stopped shaking so much at the sound of his voice. When Ann looked up at Danse, Hancock saw she trusted him. When there eyes met Hancock could have sworn he saw a spark finally ignite between the two.

When the thunder made the house shake again Ann closed her eyes and covered her ears. Hancock remembered her hearing was stronger and he felt bad for the pain she must be enduring.

Being a freshly turned ghoul was an experience all in its self. Hancock remembered how it was for him. Every one of his senses in those first weeks of turning were sharper. Over time he was able to readjust to his sharper senses and they soon became normal.

Hancock could tell it was different with Ann. With no memories to compare her new senses to she was literally experiencing everything around her like a new child.

He saw with satisfaction that Danse finally understood what was going on and he helped Ann to cover her sensitive ears to muffle the sound.

Before Danse could even look up Hancock walked into the room and looked down at him.

Hancock wanted Danse to know he was holding something extremely special.

Hancock knelt down to Danse's level and whispered in his ear so close, Hancock could almost feel Danse's ear on his lips. "You ask why? Aside from Shaun, you are the only other person in this town she has opened up too. Even after you shot her, she for some reason has decided to trust you more then any one here. Ya know she looked for you at that damn bridge today? Don't hurt her Danse, or so fucking help me I will plant my fist so hard into your face you will be seeing stars for weeks."

Hancock stood up and walked out of the house. He heard Nick walk out behind him and shut the door.

The two men stood on Danse's front porch for a moment each taking a moment to light a cigarette. Hancock smiled as he opened a tin and popped a Mentat in his mouth before lighting his cigarette. "Well, I think those two should be just fine after that." He flicked his gold lighter shut and put it in his coat pocket.

Nick nodded his head as he looked at his silver lighter for a moment seeing his eyes reflect off the silver. "I think she'll help him as much as he'll help her. They appear to be two lost souls looking for the same damn thing."

Hancock looked at Nick with a grin. "Never took you for the romantic, mushy, kinda person Nick." Hancock nodded in the direction of the guest house. The rad storm was over and now it was raining normal rain now. "Why don't we go somewhere dry?"

Nick and Hancock walked in the rain to the guest house. When they got inside they saw Daisy was already gone to help Curie with a special delivery. Nora sent her with Dogmeat to escort her to a nearby settlement to help keep her safe on her journey.

Nick sat in the big red over stuffed recliner. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the black thing Ann had thrown on the ground. He looked at it and saw it had a smooth glass surface on one side and a plastic surface on the back with. "Ann's cell phone, paws off" wrote on it.

Nick pressed a button and the cell lit up. The screen said swipe to unlock. Nick noticed the screen had a painting of some one in power armor shooting at a mutant. Nick tried to push the buttons to make it do more, but was only able to make it beep louder.

He then noticed when his covered hand touched the screen it responded to his touch. Nick swiped his finger across the screen and watched as the screen changed to a new one. Nick looked up when he heard Hancock drag a kitchen chair over and placed it next to the recliner with the back of the chair facing Nick. Hancock sat in the chair backwards and leaned his chest on the back of the chair. "That the black thing you stole from Ann?" Hancock asked Nick as he looked at the screen. Hancock laughed quietly when he saw the screen. "looks like Nora's pip boy, but better."

Nick nodded his head in agreement. "I was hoping to learn more about Ann and where she's from with this."

Nick looked back at the screen and looked at all the pictures with words under them one said music and Nick poked at it with his finger. The screen flicked to a list of things. Nick read some of them and realized they were song titles. The list was short but the songs sounded interesting;

 **Ami by Nobuo Uematsu.**

 **The unforgiven III**

 **Don't fear the reaper.**

 **Knockin on heaven's door.**

 **Dirty song by cars can be blue.**

 **This is war.**

 **I don't want to set the world on fire.**

 **Kryptonite by three doors down**

 **Welcome to my apocalypse by JT Machinima**

 **21 Guns by green day**

 **Blue fields by Nobuo Uematsu.**

 **I can't stop loving you Rey Charles.**

Nick randomly poked the one called kryptonite by three doors down.

The device started playing music that Nick or Hancock had never heard before.

Hancock smiled. "Sounds like her world has better sounding music."

Nick and Hancock went through the music list listening to random songs.

Nick finally poked at the one called welcome to my Apocalypse by JT Machinima. When it started singing about the fallout world Nick and Hancock looked at each other. Hancock shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe in her world we exist as a song?" the music stopped playing and randomly went on to the next song called 'The Dirty Song' by cars can be blue.

The song was playing loud and Hancock was playfully bobbing his head to the beginning of the song until it got to the chorus. He started laughing as Nick 's eyes went wide and if he could have blushed his face would be bright red.

Hancock was almost falling out of the chair from laughing so hard at the song and at Nicks reaction to the song. Nick quickly stopped the song and backed out of the music to the main screen.

"What's wrong Nick, can't handle dirty pillow talk? That has got to be the best song I've ever heard." He was still smiling as Nick flipped him off without a word.

Nick tapped on the picture icon, the screen changed. Nick saw a list of pictures that were called folders. He touched the one that said Ann's pictures. He scrolled the pictures up as he was quickly getting the hang of using the cell.

Both Hancock and Nick looked at the pictures.

Hancock got serious as he looked at her world. "It's so green and full of life. Was our world ever like that before the bombs fell?"

Nick nodded his head. "They may not be my memories of the past, but yeah, our world was just as green and vibrant like hers before the bombs."

They looked at pictures of chickens, of Ann before she was a ghoul. She had a smile that looked infectious and long hair that went down past her waist.

Hancock and Nick saw pictures of people he could only guess was her friends or family.

Hancock smiled when he saw a picture of her holding a hand full of fluffy little birds with a big smile on her face. "She looks so happy and different in all these pictures."

Nick noticed one of the pictures had a triangle with a circle around it. He touched it and the screen went black, then it showed a picture that started moving. He could hear the little fluffy things chirping as she started talking about them. The way Ann talked about the fluffy chicks made Nick realize she apparently loved working with animals.

Nick used the back button to back out of the moving picture. It took him back to the screen that listed the folders.

Before he could pick one, Hancock pointed at a folder with a person wearing a black and red body suit. "Open that one, she's got a tattoo on her back with me and that thing."

Nick sighed and opened the folder. There was a picture with the white arrow and circle. Nick tapped on it and watched as the screen went black. Then lit back up as the word Marvel went across the screen.

Hancock and Nick watched as it played through the beginning, Hancock laughed at the words that flashed across the screen during the opening credits.

Nick and Hancock watched the cell quietly as it played. When the red and black guy called his self dead pool then lifted his mask to show the Dopinder guy his face, Hancock laughed as he yelled out. "He's a fucking ghoul!"

Nick shook his head in disbelief. They were intently watching the cell as it played through. Hancock had a smile on his face that just kept growing as the moving picture played. He even told Nick to close his eyes when the man started having sex with the hot chick.

Nick just ignored Hancock. By now Nick realized this was a movie. It was not like the old movies that the original Nick valentine had memories of. Nick could tell it was all fake and not real.

When the movie showed how Dead pool got his face messed up Hancock got quiet. He watched as the man suffered and his skin became disfigured.

The screen suddenly stopped moving and the words "battery dead" flashed across the screen before the cell flicked off.

Nick tried to turn the phone back on, but it refused to do anything.

"The fuck you do to it Nick?" Hancock asked as he stood up to go to the kitchen.

Nick kept trying to make the phone turn back on but was having no luck "I didn't do anything to it, I think it's battery ran out of power."

Hancock walked back into the front room with a beer in each hand.

Nick looked up at Hancock. "You know I don't drink John." Nick watched as Hancock laid out on the couch. He popped the top off one of the beer bottles and laid back.

"I know man, I just don't want to get back up for the second beer later." Hancock pulled out his Jet inhaler and took a deep breath of it as he lowered his hat over his eyes. "I know you don't sleep Nick, but some of us do, wake me when morning comes." Hancock laid back and let his self fall into a deep sleep for the first time since Ann woke up. He knew Ann was safe for the night.

(((((())))))

In the morning Ann left Danse's house happy and with a smile on her face. She walked quickly to the scrap bench where she knew Shaun would be or was going to be. As Ann walked she remembered Danse telling her Shaun was a synth.

Ann didn't fully understand why it was such a big deal. Why did it matter to Danse if some one was synth or real human. He and Shaun looked and acted like every other person she's met in this town.

Even Nick who looked less real then Shaun and Danse, acted just like any other human. Ann shook her head and decided she just didn't care who was a synth and who was not.

As Ann got closer to the scrap bench she heard Duncan talking to Shaun. "Hay robo boy, why don't you ever grow up? And stop acting like a fucking child?"

Ann saw Shaun's eyes go wide "Duncan! don't curse! dad will be furious if he hears you curse."

"What? ya gonna tell him about that too? I don't fucking care, I'm almost an adult now, Dad can just kiss my.." Duncan saw movement behind him as Ann walked up to them. Duncan quickly turned to face Ann like a scared child getting caught doing something he shouldn't be doing.

When he saw it was just Ann he got a disgusted look on his face "Oh it's you, the voiceless bald ghoul" Ann had not really paid that much thought to her bald head. She never had any reason to give it any real thought until now and reached up to feel her bald head.

When she touched the top of her head it stung a little for some reason. She then felt the bandage that covered part of her head and found it was starting to come unraveled.

Ann shrugged her shoulders and pulled it off her head and started to walk past Duncan to toss it into the fabric bin.

Duncan pushed her as she walked by. "Hey, I'm talking to you baldy, don't fucking ignore me." Ann's shoe caught on a piece of junk and she stumbled and fell on a sharp piece of metal cutting her hand open badly.

Ann looked at the blood as it seeped out of a two inch gash in the palm of her hand.

Ann silently picked up the dirty bandage from the ground. With tears of pain in her eyes, Ann tried hard to wrap it around her hand, but her right hand was cut and it felt awkward to use her left hand.

Duncan just shook his head as he stepped over to Ann. "Fucking hell." He snatched the bandage from Ann and roughly grabbed her injured hand. He wrapped it the best he could and in a sad voice he spoke kinder to Ann, "I'm sorry I hurt you, just.. please don't tell anyone I did this to you." Duncan turned his head to Shaun and growled at him. "Don't breath one fucking word of this to dad." He then kicked a broken teddy bear and stormed away.

Ann stood up and walked over to Shaun as she wiped away her tears with the back of the bandage and put her uninjured hand on his shoulder.

Shaun looked up at Ann, then at her hand. "Are you ok? I'm sorry Duncan hurt you like that, he's only angry because he and dad had a bad fight this morning after I told dad about some things Duncan did."

Shaun got out his tools and handed some to Ann.

Ann nodded her head at Shaun that she was ok and took the tools. They both quietly got to work.

They both worked all morning and well into mid noon. Shaun heard Nora calling for them at the fire pit.

Shaun smiled as he put everything away. Ann was walking with Shaun when she noticed the piece of metal she had cut her hand on flashed in the sunlight.

She could see her dried blood was still on it. Ann bent down and picked the metal thing up. Ann saw it was an old sword as she held it by the handle and liked how it felt. It was light and felt balanced in her hand.

Ann looked at Shaun, pointed at the sword then at her self. Shaun looked at the sword and shrugged his shoulders. "If you want it, take it, it was in the junk pile so it's fair game. You can keep it with my tools at the bench if you want."

Ann smiled and mouthed thank you to Shaun. She turned and took it back to the work bench and hid it behind Shaun's tools.

When she turned around she saw Danse was walking to the fire pit with a duffle bag. Ann motioned to Shaun to go on without her and ran over to Danse.

Danse heard someone running to him and he turned his head to see it was Ann. He noticed the bandage that was on her head was now off and her hand was bloody and wrapped with the same bandage.

He looked back at her head and could see a long angry scar across the side of her head where his bullet had grazed her. He was surprised to see it was a scar and not a scab.

He saw Ann's face turn red through the scars on her face as she ran her hand across her bald head like she wanted to hide it. She flinched when her hand touched the top part of her head.

Danse wondered why she was suddenly embarrassed to be bald. "Don't be embarrassed, I know a lot of woman who had shaved there hair off after joining the brotherhood. They were always the ones that nobody messed with. I was only looking at the scar I gave you and not your baldness." Danse wondered why she was even worried about being bald in the first place, it didn't seem to bother her before.

He then noticed she had a mean looking sun burn on the top part of her head. He frowned since he didn't have anything on him that would help her. "You need to wear a hat, the top of your head is getting sun burnt."

Danse then pointed at her hand as they walked on to the fire pit. "What happened to your hand?"

Ann shook her head and mouthed to him that she had tripped and fell.

Danse shook his head. "You need to be more careful, I don't like seeing bandages on you and I don't like seeing pain in your eyes."

Danse and Ann walked in silence the rest of the way to the fire pit.

When they arrived at the pit Ann looked around and saw Hancock, Nick, JR, Shaun, Duncan, and Nora.

Nora handed Ann a plate with a Saulsberry steak and insta mash on it. Ann cringed and shook her head as she mouthed, "No thank you"

Nora automatically went into her mother mode as she started to lecture like a mother. "Ann, you need to eat something. You've ate maybe a few bites of random thing's since you woke up." Nora had a worried look on her face. Ann shook her head and looked at Danse for help.

Danse saw Ann looking at him he took a deep breath and let it out as he spoke to Nora. "She ate an MRE at my place last night." Danse blinked when Nora gave him a look of pure astonishment.

"Why was she at your house Danse?" Nora's astonishment turned to shock when she realized he not only let a ghoul in his house, but had shared food with a ghoul as well.

Danse fidgeted and looked over at Nick and Hancock. Both men had amused looks on there faces. They were both enjoying the discomfort Danse was feeling from Nora.

Danse shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "Same reason why Hancock passes out on my couch when he's drunk, she mistook my house for the guest house when the storm scared her." Danse looked over at Ann remembering how frightened she had been.

Nora shrugged her shoulders knowing she was defeated. "Fine whatever, are you ready to teach the boys today?" Nora asked Danse as she put the Saulsberry steak down for Dogmeat to eat.

"Dogmeat! Come here boy!" Nora looked around for Dogmeat and started to panic when he didn't come.

Nick looked at Nora odd. "You sent him with Daisy to help with that emergency call from Curie."

Nora placed her hand on her face. She had forgotten she had sent Dogmeat away with Daisy to help protect her on her way to help Curie with an emergency at a nearby settlement.

Nora called lady, a female brindled pit bull, over to eat the food instead. Lady was the newest addition to Sanctuary. She had only been here for about six months now and she was already pregnant with Dogmeats puppies. Nora guessed the dog was due to whelp her pups at any time now.

Nora looked back at Danse and smiled. "The boys are ready whenever you are." She watched Danse pick up his bag and look at Shaun and Duncan. "All right Initiates, lets get some training done before sundown." Danse turned and led the boys to the same concrete slab where JR had took the boys the day before.

Ann was eager to get back to working in the garden and she smiled at Nora as she turned and walked away.

Just like last time, Ann worked hard with June picking fruits and vegetables and storing them. They would pull weeds and plant winter seeds. The garden plot was enormous and had enough growing food for thirty plus people.

While Ann worked, she could absent mindedly hear Danse talking to the boys. He taught them all he knew about small guns while he let them shoot some of his guns at targets.

He then went into teaching the boys close quarters hand to hand combat. Ann looked up and watched as he showed the boys how to transfer energy from incoming blows away from them. Ann went back to working in the garden, but would glance over at the boys every once in a while and would watch and listen to what Danse had to say.

When the sun got low in the horizon Danse dismissed the boys to go eat dinner. "Good work Initiates, tomorrow Hancock and I are going to test you boys on what you learned today." Danse watched the boys run off to the fire pit as they excitedly talked to each other about everything Danse had taught them.

Danse then walked over to the garden to talk to Ann. He saw Ann was hunched over trying to pull a carrot out of the ground, but it wasn't budging. He was going to help her as he walked up behind her. Ann gave the carrot one good tug and the top popped off making Ann tumble backwards into Danse, knocking them both to the ground. Danse laughed as Ann looked at him and silently apologized.

She had a look of embarrassed horror on her face and mouthed "Are you ok, I'm sorry!"

Danse shook his head yes as he laughed. "I'm ok, I was just coming over to ask you if you wanted to come over to my house and eat another MRE? I can tell you liked the last one and after all the work you did today you need to replace the calories you burned or your going to get week."

Danse got up and held his hand out to Ann. Ann grabbed it and he pulled her up forgetting how small and light she was and he pulled her up a little too fast making Ann stumble into him. Ann could feel his strong body under the blue mechanic jump suit and blushed as she quickly pushed her self off him.

Danse laughed and turned to walk to his house with Ann following him.

When they got to the house, Danse took the duffle bag of guns he had used with the boys that day and took them over to the kitchen table.

It was a nightly routine for him to clean some of his guns whether they needed it or not. An old left over habit from being in the brotherhood of steel.

Danse walked around the table and sat in the kitchen chair as he laid out the guns across the table.

Ann sat in the kitchen chair across from him. He started taking a gun apart and saw Ann was waving at him to get his attention.

Danse looked at her as she gently picked a gun up and mouthed, "May I help?"

Danse didn't worry about her damaging these guns since they were some of his junk 10mm's that he kept for trading purposes when he was out of caps.

Danse nodded his head that it was ok then looked back down at his gun to continue taking it apart.

He had laid out four guns total.

When he finished taking his gun apart he reached for another gun and found it wasn't there.

When he looked up at the table he saw the gun Ann had asked to take apart and the gun he had reached for were all ready apart and laid out neatly in pieces in front of Ann.

Danse was at a loss for words. Ann had took two guns expertly apart in the time it took him to take his one apart.

Danse handed her the fourth gun and nodded at her to take it apart.

She moved quickly and he almost couldn't see her hands as they flew around the gun gently taking each part off and laying it neatly in Its own space on the table. She was done in a matter of seconds.

Danse sat back in his chair completely impressed. "Where did you learn to do that?"

Ann smiled proudly and pointed at him. Danse then remembered she had watched him put his guns back together the night before and that she spent a lot of time taking things apart with Shaun.

Danse didn't really think she had been paying much attention to him the night before. He thought she was just being polite in pretending to watch him.

Danse got up and got his gun oils and showed her where to put it on the guns and how to clean them. She nodded her head as she expertly oiled his guns and put then back together like she had done it millions of times before.

Danse felt proud of her and couldn't help but feel a little turned on. He had to step out on the front porch for a moment to collect his self.

When he got back he saw Ann had put all four guns back together. He was impressed that they were in the exact condition he liked his guns to be in. It was like he had done all four guns his self.

Danse put his guns away and got out two MRE's and handed her one. This time he grabbed two beers from the fridge and handed her one. Ann took the bottle and looked at it.

Danse watched her try to open it, but he could tell her injured hand wasn't letting her. Danse started to wonder just how badly injured her hand was. He had noticed her flinch a few times as she worked with his guns.

Danse reached across the table motioning at the beer. Ann handed her beer to him. Danse opened it and handed the bottle back to her.

He saw her put the bottle to her lips and take a drink.

Danse nearly jumped out of his chair when Ann suddenly slammed the bottle on the table as She started to cough violently. Ann tried to gasp for air but was coughing too hard to get a good breath.

Danse quickly stood up and got her a can of water, opened It and handed it to her with worry on his face.

Ann quickly took the can and drank the water closing her eyes for a moment to calm her self. Her face was red and splashy as she opened her eyes with tears in them.

Danse placed his hand on the side of her face as he knelt down to be eye level with her. "Are you ok? What happened?"

Danse noticed she had blood in the corners of her mouth from coughing so hard and pain in her eye's. Ann motioned like she was writing in the air.

Danse stood up and got her a pencil with some paper and watched her write. "The bubbles in the drink made my throat burn. I tried to gasp for air but what I had tried to swallow made me choke. I'm sorry if I made you worry." Ann had tears falling down her face and there was still blood on the side of her mouth. Ann took another sip off the water and cringed.

Danse had got up after reading what she wrote and came back with a clean wet cloth and a stimpack.

Ann eyed the stimpack in his hands and she shook her head at it.

Danse placed the stimpack on the table and knelt down to her again. "You need the stimpack, it will help you heal faster." As he talked to her he wiped the blood from her mouth and the tears from her face.

Danse unwrapped her swollen hand and took a deep breath and let it out when he saw it had a long infected gash in it that was oozing. It looked like she cut herself on a rusty blade.

Danse shook his head and pointed at her hand "This is beyond infected, I'm not giving you a choice about the stimpack. Trust me, it will make you feel better. The pain your in right now is completely unnecessary." Danse picked up the stimpack and held the needle close to the infected cut in her hand. Ann pulled her hand back from him at first then looked Danse in the eyes. He saw she was shaking a little. "Please Ann, just trust me."

Ann closed her eyes and placed her hand back in his and held her breath as he placed the needle close to the wound on her hand.

Danse pushed the needle into her skin then administered the stimpack. It hissed as it pushed its medication in to her hand.

Ann watched with wide eyes as her skin begun to grow over the cut as it pushed the infected puss that was in her hand out of the sides of her cut. Danse handed her the cloth and Ann wiped her hand clean. She flexed her fingers and saw her hand was fully healed.

Ann took a drink of her water then put her hand to her throat. It was no longer painful to swallow water.

She looked at Danse and spoke in her new voice for the first time. "Thank you" what came out of her mouth terrified her. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand.

Danse looked at her with wide eyes. He didn't expect to hear her try to talk so soon. The sound of her voice was not like any voice he has ever heard before. Especially coming from Ann. It sounded deep, beautiful and gravely. He had no words to really describe the way her voice sounded. Only that is was deeply female and made him want to hear her speak again.

Danse smiled and pulled her hand away. Ann shook her head and wrote on the paper. "I sound horrible, my voice sounds as bad as I look. I'm a monster both on the out side and on the inside, I'm hideous Dance." Ann slammed the pencil down on the paper and looked away from Danse to stare at the floor.

Danse placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face up so they were looking at each others eyes. Ann looked into his brown eyes and he looked into her black bicolored green and amber eyes.

"Your not ugly or hideous, your far from it love. You have to be the most beautiful ghoul I have ever seen. Don't ever call yourself a monster again you hear me." Then with out thinking Danse kissed her forehead.

He quickly pulled back surprised he did that. Ann had tears and a smile on her face as she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him.

The days went by as Ann quickly fell into a routine. She would start her day off early helping Shaun. Duncan left her and Shaun alone after there first encounter.

Ann would then work on cleaning the sword she found for about an hour before noon when Shaun had to leave for training. He and Duncan were learning how to fight and protect themselves from RJ, Danse, and Hancock. Hancock's lessons were always interesting since he mostly taught the boys street smarts and how to fight dirty. Ann would eighther help June in the garden or help Sturgis on making repairs around town while Ann listened to the lessons that the boys were being thought.

Ann would always end her day at Danse's eating one of his MRE's and learning about all of his guns. Ann would only speak to Danse since she felt too uncomfortable with her voice to talk to any other person in the settlement.

She would hug Danse goodnight after being at his house for a few hours and would leave to go sit quietly at the wooden bridge where she first met Danse until the next morning.

Ann had tried several nights to sleep at the guest house but found it was not going to happen yet.

As the week passed by everyone found they loved having Ann in the settlement since she was never complaining or refused to help anyone.

She did everything that was asked of her, even putting in extra effort to make sure it was done right.

Ann realized that her strength was improving from her working around the settlement so hard.

It was a cool evening as the sun started to go down. Ann was sitting at the bridge watching the fish swim under her. She had finished working on repairs early and had figured it was too early to visit Danse yet. Ann figured she would sit at the bridge in her down time to rest for a moment.

Ann suddenly heard footsteps walking along the creek bed away from her. Ann's curiosity got the best of her and she followed the footsteps. She saw with her ghoul eyes in the fading light that it was Duncan and he was walking along the creek bed south.

Ann silently followed him and saw him walk to an odd looking metal thing with wheels that was surrounded by white and yellow barrels.

Duncan stopped for a moment and put some thing in his mouth as he continued to walk through the water.

Ann put her foot in the water and felt it tingle pleasantly.

Ann had learned from Hancock that the tingling and bubbly feeling on her skin was radiation. He explained to her that it was a good thing for her and bad for what he called smooth skins.

As Ann got closer to the barrels she could feel her skin tingling all over. It felt warm like sunshine and tickled like bubbles were popping all over her skin. This area was high in radiation. It was the highest amount of radiation she's felt so far and it felt intoxicating.

When Ann got to the metal opening Duncan was there pointing a dagger at her.

As soon as Duncan saw it was Ann he lowered his blade and sat down on a ledge of some kind. He shook his head and started crying.

Ann walked over to him and placed her hand on his back as she sat next to him.

He just sat their and cried for a while. Then he looked at Ann. "Don't tell anyone you saw me cry, but then again you can't talk so I don't have anything to worry about do I?"

Ann grinned at him "Your right Duncan, you have nothing to worry about." Ann still hated the sound of her voice but was getting used to how it sounded the more she and Danse talked. It really wasn't as bad as what she originally thought.

Duncan's eyes went wide as he heard her talk for the first time "You can talk, but your voice it's…."

Ann spoke for him. "Hideous? I know it is, That's why I don't talk. I've been able to talk for a week now but I didn't want to terrify people with how horrible I sound."

Duncan shook his head. "You don't sound horrible or hideous. Definitely not a normal voice, it's honestly one of the most beautiful voices I've ever heard. When you speak I can feel it go through me, kinda like Hancock's but not." Duncan took a deep breath as he shook his head.

Ann smiled at how much Duncan was trying to be nice. "Why are you out here Duncan? I don't know if you can feel it, but I can feel this place is drenched in radiation. I know you think Hancock is cool, but I can tell you from experience that turning into a ghoul is not something I would wish on an enemy."

Duncan put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a bottle of Rad-X pills and shook it.

"I'll be fine, I took some of these. I like to come to this tank to think. No body ever comes here so it's a nice quiet place to be alone, until you found it, I bet your probably going to tell my Dad about this place." Duncan looked down at the floor of the tank.

Ann shook her head. "No Duncan, I won't tell your father, everyone needs a place to escape to every once in a while."

Duncan nodded "I like to come here when I'm angry with my father. He's the reason why my mother is dead."

Ann looked at Duncan puzzled. "I thought Nora was your mother?"

Duncan shook his head "No, she's my step mom, My real mother died alone in a sewer because my father took me when I was a baby and left her there to be eaten by feral ghouls."

Ann didn't know what to say. She had never really heard of a feral ghoul and wondered if it was like her since people were always calling her a ghoul.

Ann placed a hand on Duncan's shoulder. "Duncan I don't think your father would just up and leave your mother behind like you say he did. To me it sounds like he had no choice and she was probably the one that told him to leave with you to save you."

Duncan took a deep breath and let it out. "I know, that's what everyone keeps telling me. I think I blame him because it's so easy to. I don't remember her, but he always told me about her. My father tried to raise me when I was younger, but I got really sick and someone told him about a place here in the commonwealth where he could get a special kind of medicine that would help me. Ironically my father left me in a place that was full of ghouls like you, Daisy and Hancock. They took care of me until my father was able to get the medicine.

He found it with Nora's help and had it shipped to where I was. It took a year for me to get better, then a few more just to get strong enough to travel across the states to get here. The day you got here screaming was the same day I arrived here."

Ann looked at Duncan odd. "I was screaming when they brought me here?"

Duncan looked at her. "You don't remember?"

Ann shook her head no.

"I was in Nora's house when I heard you screaming, I watched Danse carry you into the settlement then carry you to the guest house."

Ann stood up to face Duncan. "Danse carried me here?" Ann wondered if maybe she and Danse already knew each other from before she was a ghoul.

Ann's thoughts were broken when she heard rocks being ran across out side the tank.

Ann and Duncan both looked at each other quietly then looked out side the doorway of the tank.

Ann could see in the pale moon light a figure was running towards the tank as fast as they could. Ann could hear there ragged breathing.

The figure saw Ann standing in the tank and ran to her. As they entered the tank, they were breathing hard and fast. Ann was shocked to see it was a young ghoul boy about the same age as Duncan. The boy looked at Duncan then at Ann with eyes of fear and desperation. "Help me…." He asked before collapsing to the ground.

Ann looked out the tank and saw something terrifying. It was scorpion, but it was huge and red.

Ann heard Duncan behind her whimper. "That's a fucking radscorpion, they don't normally come this far north. It's going to kill us. What do we do?"

Ann placed herself in front of Duncan to protect him. "Other then the dagger, do you have any other weapons on you Duncan?" Ann watched as the Radscorpion followed the blood trail the boy had been dropping.

It would be a matter of moments before it got to the tank and found them all.

"No I just have that dagger." Duncan said as he pulled it out.

Ann shook her head. "Why teach you and Shaun how to protect yourselves and not give you any weapons is stupid."

Duncan laughed nervously "That's exactly what I've been arguing with my parents all day about!" Duncan had spoke a little too loud and the Radscorpion looked in there direction.

Ann put her hand out to the side as she kept her eyes on the giant animal. "Give me the dagger, I'll keep it distracted while you run and get help."

Duncan shook his head. "Are you crazy Ann, it will kill you, I'm not like my father, I won't leave you!"

Ann glared back at Duncan "Better for me to die then you kid, you got a family that loves you, I don't." Ann motioned for the dagger again and Duncan frowned as he Quickly placed the handle in her hand.

Ann walked forward and held the Dagger ready with intent on killing this creature before letting it hurt Duncan or the collapsed boy in the tank.

"Hay… rad whatever the fuck your called, over here!" Ann yelled at the Radscorpion as she waved the blade trying to get its attention on her and not Duncan.

It stopped moving for a moment then focused in on her.

"Duncan run, now!" Ann yelled at Duncan. Ann heard him run as fast as he could to the settlement to get help.

Ann jumped when the scorpion dived underground and disappeared. She looked around for it but couldn't see it anywhere.

Suddenly the ground next to her erupted and the scorpion burst out of the ground. It struck at her with its massive sharp stinger. Ann dodged sideways quickly to avoid the stinger and felt searing pain in her leg where the scorpion had grabbed it in its massive pincher.

Ann cried out as the pain radiated through her body and she stabbed the dagger into the head of the radscorpion.

The Scorpion made a weird shrieking sound as it tightened its pincher around Ann's leg making her scream out in pain when she felt the bone in her leg snap.

The scorpion pulled back its tail and struck at her quick as lightning again. This time the stinger disappeared into her left shoulder. Ann felt sudden, searing pain radiate from the stinger in her shoulder and spread through her body.

Ann almost passed out from the fresh surge of pain the radscorpion caused her when it tore its stinger back out of her shoulder dislocating it and nearly ripping her arm off.

Her left arm felt numb as it dangled at her side and wouldn't move. Ann became pissed off and furious that the scorpion had struck her. She balled up her right fist and slammed it into the scorpions head next to the Dagger. Ann felt its head crunch, but the scorpion was still moving and it too was now pissed off.

It brought its stinger back to give its prey a final death blow.

((((())))))

Hancock was sitting at the fire pit talking with Nick when Danse walked up to them. Danse looked at Nick and Hancock. "You two haven't seen Ann have you? She's normally at my house after sun down and its not like her to be late."

Hancock motioned at the bridge behind him, "I saw her last at that bridge. She was taking a break from working with Sturgis all afternoon."

Danse looked over at the Bridge and saw was empty. "Well the bridge is empty, any more idea's of where she might be?"

Hancock stood up as he turned and looked at the empty bridge. He then looked all around the settlement for her. Something felt off. Maybe she went to the Guest house?

Hancock started to walk towards the guest house with Danse following him. Hancock saw Duncan running fast from between some houses to the south with wild fear in his eyes.

When Duncan saw Hancock he screamed at him in a desperate voice. "Its Ann! She needs help! Its going to kill her!" Duncan ran up to Hancock and pointed south of the settlement.

Danse was already running full speed in the direction Duncan had ran from as soon as he heard the boy say Ann's name.

Hancock followed after Danse with Nick behind him.

Danse felt like the world had stopped spinning when Duncan yelled out Ann's name with the look of terror he had on his face. Dance almost felt his heart stop when he said something about her getting killed. The terror in the boys eyes alone was enough to let Danse know Ann was in horrible trouble.

Danse pulled out his gun and was ready to destroy anything that was hurting Ann.

When Danse passed a house and looked down the hill. Danse saw Ann in the pale moon light fighting a giant red Radscorpian with her bare hands. Danse nearly tripped on his feet as he ran to her.

He watched in silent horror as it reared its tail all the way back.

Danse's mind was unwilling to accept what he was witnessing.

Danse stopped running and lifted his gun to shoot but was unable to get a clear shot. The way Ann was standing he would have shot her. Danse could see by the angle he was standing that the radscorpion was aiming its blow for her head. Danse fired his gun close to the radscorpion hoping to distract it.

Danse then rushed forward as the radscorpion struck at Ann with its full force.

Danse felt like he was watching the world move in slow motion. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw Ann catch the stinger with her bare hands, the stinger was just inches from her face and she used the momentum of the tail to stab the monster in it's head with its own venom infused tail. It was the advanced brotherhood move he tried to teach the boys a week ago.

The Scorpion shuddered and stopped moving.

Danse saw it had Ann's leg in one of its massive pinchers and he rushed to her and pulled the pincher open.

When Ann tried to take a step back she fell into the water. Her movements were uncoordinated and week from the venom flowing through her. Ann could feel her body slowly burn as the venom burned its way through her veins.

Danse picked her up out of the water and laid her on dry ground. She looked at Danse and smiled at him through the pain that she was in.

Danse shook his head "Of all the damn stupid things I've ever seen anyone do in my life, why would you take on a damn Radscorpion unarmed?" Danse yelled at her as he checked her leg and saw it was broken with bone sticking through her skin.

Ann tried to shrug her shoulders, but was only able to move one.

Danse glared at her as he looked at her left shoulder and saw it was dislocated with a puncture wound from the stinger. "You and I both know you can talk, I don't care what your damn voice sounds like, just tell me why you would risk your life like this?" Dance asked Ann in a demanding voice as he lined her shoulder back up and prepared to pop it back in place.

Danse saw tears fall from her eyes. "There is a boy in that tank, he collapsed after asking me to help him." Ann said in a week voice as she looked away from Danse's angry eyes. Ann screamed out when Dance popped her shoulder back in place with no warning. He hated hearing her scream in pain like that. Danse knew from experience the pain would have been worse had he told her what he was going to do.

Hancock stood there for a moment, he was shocked at seeing her fight the radscorpian the way she did, then she spoke. Her was deeply feminine with rich gravelly under tones of dark silkiness. He shook his head and motioned for Nick to follow him to the tank.

As Hancock passed the dead Radscorpion he saw his dagger was sticking out of its head next to the stinger. Hancock knelt down and pulled his dagger out. Hancock had lost his dagger a few days ago and he was now wondering how Ann got it.

Hancock put his dagger back in its holder behind his back under his coat and walked on to the tank.

He looked inside and saw a boy was on the floor. When he turned the boy over he was shocked to see it was Billy. Last time he saw Billy was when he and Nora left Billy with his parents.

Nick nodded at Billy "Billy and his parents are some of the missing ghouls I was telling you and Nora about. Maybe once we get him settled and awake we can talk to him and see what he remembers." Hancock needed Nicks help carrying Billy out of the tank.

Danse hit the ground with his fist making Ann jump. Danse knew the venom was in her system and knew it was slowly killing her.

Ann lifted a shaking hand and placed it on Danse's face. "I'm sorry Danse, I had to protect him until help could come." She then dropped her hand from the side of Danse's face as her strength was fading away and she couldn't hold it up any longer.

Danse looked over and saw Hancock and Nick were carrying a boy from the tank. He looked to be in bad condition.

Danse picked Ann up and carried her back to the settlement. By now most of the people that had heard Duncan yelling was gathered and were ready to help. When they saw Danse carrying Ann, most of them lowered there hats out of respect with the thought she was already dead by the way her limbs moved and the way her blood was dripping down the front of Danse's blue mechanic suit.

Nora ran up to Danse and looked at Ann as he rushed her into the guest house. Nora opened the newly fixed door Ann had replaced a few days ago with Sturgis's guidance.

Danse laid her on the couch as Hancock and Nick sat the boy in the recliner.

Nora looked at the boy and gasped "It's Billy, what happened to them?" Nora asked as she looked at Billy then Ann.

Hancock was going through a dresser franticly as he spoke "I don't know love, but she just killed a fucking radscorpion with her bare hands." Hancock still couldn't believe what he had seen Ann do.

Danse didn't pay attention to what was going on around him. His main focus was on Ann. "Hang in there soldier, keep talking to me." He was holding her hand and was gently stroking Ann's face and bald head. Ann smiled with tears of pain in her eyes.

Ann whispered so quietly, Danse could barely hear her. "Danse, you worry too much I'll be…..okay…" Ann's breathing stopped suddenly, then Danse felt her heart stop beating.

Danse tapped the side of her face trying to wake her up. "Ann, no no no, Ann, come on open your eyes damn it…ANN!" Danse was starting to panic and shook her gently trying to wake her lifeless body.

Hancock quickly walked over to Danse and Ann. He pushed Danse back and ripped the front of Ann's shirt open. Danse watched speechless as Hancock felt around on her chest. Then without warning he plunged a stimpack deep into the center of her chest. "This should bring her back.."

The stimpack hissed and Ann's eyes popped open and she sat up with the stimpack still sticking out of her chest. Hancock quickly pulled the stimpack out before Ann even realized it was there. Ann looked down and quickly covered her bare breasts when she saw her shirt was tore open.

Hancock took his coat off and covered her with it like a blanket. He looked at Ann "ya ok sister?"

Ann nodded her head and started to cry. She knew she had died and was scared.

Danse sat up and nearly pulled her off the couch when he wrapped his arms tightly around her. "Don't ever die again, that's an order." He held her for a moment then let her go.

The door burst open as Curie and Daisy stormed in. When Daisy saw Ann was ok she breathed a sigh of relief. The settlement was buzzing about her. Everyone had told Curie and Daisy Ann was dead.

Curie was holding a crying bundle away from her chest. Daisy looked back at Curie and frowned at her "Curie you have to cuddle it like how I showed you or its never going to sleep!" Curie looked tired and wore out.

Hancock stepped forward and gently took the crying baby from Curie. He hummed with his deep voice as rocked the baby trying to calm it.

Ann looked up at the crying bundle "What's wrong with him, is he ok?"

The room was silent, every one except Dance and Hancock was staring at her.

Nora was about to give Billy a Stimpack but had stopped to stare at Ann.

Ann tried to shrink in size as she apologized "I'm sorry, I know my voice sounds bad, but it might get better." The baby started to laugh. Hancock looked down at the baby and then back at Ann "Say something love."

Ann took a deep breath then let it out. "What do you want me to say Hancock?" The baby laughed again.

Hancock carried the baby to Ann and placed it in her arms. Ann looked down at the baby and smiled. "Hello little one." the baby opened its blue eyes and smiled at her.

Ann was so happy to see such a tiny life after being so close to death just moments ago her self, Without even thinking Ann smiled down at the baby. "Someday I'll have a beautiful baby of my own just like you."

Hancock looked uncomfortable. He turned away from Ann and left the guest house.

Nora and Nick looked at each other and moved Billy to the empty bedroom down the hallway to give Daisy, Danse and Ann some space.

Daisy gently took the baby back from Ann. Ann looked around wondering if she had said something offensive the way everyone left the room. She looked over at Danse and saw he was looking away from her with a worried look on his face.

"I'm sorry if I said something to offend everyone." Danse stood up he then sat on the couch next to Ann and put his hand on her shoulder.

Daisy handed the Baby back to Curie and told her to take it to Nora.

Daisy turned to Ann and smiled. "No dear you didn't offend anyone. Its just, Ann, you're a ghoul now and you can't have children."

Ann shook her head disgusted. "Why do people hate ghouls so much? Why are we not allowed to have children?"

Daisy shook her head "Dear, its your body that wont allow you to have children. When you became a ghoul you lost the ability to have children, the radiation in your system has made you infertile."

Ann sat there for a moment. Trying to take in what daisy just told her. Ann's eyes begun to blur as she started to cry.

Ann tried to get up but her leg was not yet fully healed and she fell back gasping in pain. Danse caught her and held on to her.

Daisy walked to the dresser and noticed an open container of psycho, and an empty vial of radiation. Daisy saw a wetness on the dresser by the empty psycho. Daisy touched it and could tell by the way it smelled that it was the liquid from a stimpack.

Daisy pulled out another Stimpack and took it over to Danse and Ann.

The baby started to cry and Ann held onto Danse tighter. "I don't want to be in here right now." Ann spoke quietly to Danse.

Danse nodded his head and stood up as he picked Ann up from the couch.

Daisy looked at Ann and pointed at her leg. "May I use the stimpack on your broken leg?" Ann didn't say anything but nodded her head yes.

Daisy administered the stimpack into Ann's leg. Then rubbed the spot where the stimpack had been stuck in at. Daisy looked up at Danse with a sad face.

Danse turned and walked out of the guest house with Ann still wrapped in Hancock's coat.

Hancock was sitting at the fire pit with Nick and RJ. He shook his head as he inhaled another hit from his jet and took two Mentats.

RJ looked at Hancock. "Not used to seeing you without that stupid red coat."

Hancock looked down and realized he had left it wrapped around Ann back at the guest house. He left so quickly he had forgotten it.

Hancock knew he didn't have the heart to hear Daisy tell Ann she couldn't have kids of her own.

Hancock looked at the sky as he remembered his wife and unborn child from when they lived in Diamond city.

Nick looked over at Hancock "You ok over there, or did you over dose on Mentats again?"

Hancock laughed at Nick. "No, just thinking about the old days Nick."

Hancock saw the door to the guest house open and Danse walked out carrying Ann. Hancock groaned when he saw Ann was still wrapped in his frock coat.

Nick smiled, "Bet you don't get that back till tomorrow afternoon."

Hancock looked at Nick with a side glance. "I thought you said you weren't the betting kind of synth.

Nick grind, "I am when the odds are in my favor."

Hancock walked over to Nick and held his hand out. "Bets on old man!" Hancock said as he shook hands with Nick.

RJ shook his head knowing the lengths Hancock would go to keep from loosing a bet.

When Danse got Ann too his house he carried her to his room and laid her on his bed. He started to walk away but Ann grabbed his hand.

"Don't leave me Danse, stay." Ann looked at him with tears in her eye's.

Danse was unsure of what to do. He could hear Nicks voice in the back of his mind whispering what he should do. "Comfort her, Dumb ass!"

Danse walked to the other side of the bed and laid awkwardly next to Ann. He had never done any thing like this with Haylen. They usually slept in separate beds and didn't touch each other much. They may have held hands once but that was when Haylen fell and he had helped her up.

Ann turned to him and laid her head on his chest.

Danse awkwardly laid his hand on her back and they both just laid there. Danse never heard Ann so quiet since she started talking. Danse begun to wonder if she had fallen asleep after awhile.

When she spoke he jumped at her voice "I'll open an orphanage for all kids. I want to take care of them all. If I'm not able to have my own children then that just means I wasn't meant to have my own. I'll just take care of all the lost children that nobody wants."

Danse was smiling as he had memories of being a lost child before joining the brotherhood. "I'll help you build that orphanage and we can take care of all the lost children together." Danse turned to face Ann and wrapped his arms around her and held her closer to him.

(((((())))))

Madison was sitting at her terminal going over the data she had just got. She smiled as she looked up at the two glowing ghouls. They had long ago gone mad with so much radiation coursing through there bodies. Madison watched them with amusement as they clawed at the glass tubes the Children of Atom had recovered from the destroyed institute ruins. She smiled at them as she flipped a switch and watched the two ghouls writhe in agony as she drained them of all there radiation. She watched as the power levels climbed closer to her goals.

Both ghouls fell to the floors of the tubes. Both were dead and gone after having every once of radiation pulled out of there bodies to be converted into pure energy.

Madison smiled as all her plans were coming together nicely. The ghoul boy she let escape should be in Sanctuary by now. Madison smiled knowing what Nora's next move will be after she hears what the boy has to tell her.


	7. Kali

Daisy watched Danse carry Ann out of the guest house. She felt terrible being the one that had to give her such awful news. Daisy remembered when she had realized the same truth. It was when she was in her early years of being a ghoul that a smooth skin had fallen in love with her. That was well over a hundred years ago. She had loved him deeply and was heartbroken as she watched him age and pass away when he was just a sixty year old man. He and daisy had tried many times to have a child, but it never happened. It was after he had passed away that another ghoul explained to her what she just told Ann.

Daisy heard the baby cry out, pulling her out of her thoughts and she walked to the back bedroom to go help.

When she walked into the room Nora was holding the baby and was just starting to feed it a bottle of Brahma milk. The baby immediately started to eat. Daisy looked at Billy and saw Curie was tending to him. Daisy looked around and saw Nick was gone, he must have quietly left out the back door while she was busy taking care of Ann.

Daisy went over to Billy and placed her hand on his foot and gently squeezed it. "Is he going to be ok Curie?"

Curie shook her head yes. "He should be good when ze pack finishes." Daisy saw an IV was in his arm and he had Irradiated blood flowing into him.

Curie shook her head and looked at Nora. "Do you know what happen to him Nora?" Curie asked in her heavy French accent as Daisy got a small blanket from the dresser by the bed and prepared it for the baby.

Daisy walked over to Nora and took the baby from her, wrapping the tiny girl in the blanket and continued to feed her as she took her to the front room so Nora and Curie could talk and the little girl in her arms could sleep after their long journey.

Nora shook her head and quietly answered Curie. "I don't know the exact details, but according to Hancock Ann had fought a Radscorpion to keep Billy safe after he collapsed …..Duncan, he knows what happened."

(earlier)

Nora remembered hearing Duncan frantically yelling for help. She and RJ were in their house watching Shaun's reactions to lady as she birthed her puppies. He was fascinated and amazed that a body could create life. Nora noticed Shaun got a little sad when he mentioned the fact he was never born, but was created in a lab. Before Nora could comfort him, that's when they heard Duncan.

When they got out side they saw Hancock, Danse and Nick rush off in to the direction Duncan was running from.

When Duncan saw RJ he ran to him with tears running down his face and was breathing hard. "Dad, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say all those awful things, I'm sorry about mom and being so mean to every one. Please just don't let her die, it's my fault dad!" Duncan had fallen to his knees in front of RJ and RJ knelt down to his son and wrapped his arms around him.

RJ looked up at Nora worried. Nora knelt down to Duncan and placed her hand on his back. "What happened Duncan, whose going to die?"

Duncan shook as he took a deep breath and tried to talk. "It's Ann…..a radscorpian attacked and she told me to run."

Nora stood up quickly and ran in the direction Hancock Nick and Danse had ran. She had to run through a group of villagers who had gathered to protect the town.

Nora stopped running when everyone became silent as they saw Danse carrying what looked like a lifeless ghoul back into the settlement.

Nora gasped when she realized he was carrying Ann. When she got closer she could see Ann's blood dripping from her broken leg and torn shoulder.

Nora had opened the guest house door to let Danse in as she watched Hancock and Nick bring in another smaller ghoul. Nora was shocked when she realized it was Billy.

The last time she had seen Billy was when they left him with his parents. Nora immediately went to him as Hancock and Danse tended to Ann.

Nora was shocked when she saw Danse lovingly place his hand on Ann's face. Danse hated ghouls and yet here he was showing compassion to one. On second thought, Nora had never really seen Danse be compassionate with anything.

Nora had seen Ann's mouth move as she whispered something to Danse. Nora turned to Hancock and asked him what had happened. Hancock told her Ann had fought a radscorpion bare handed to protect Billy. Hancock was at the dresser with the medical supplies, his hands we're a blur as he poured out the liquid from two stimpacks and replace one with psycho and radiation from a small vial and the other with just radiation. Nora was confused as to why he was mixing chems.

Hancock handed her the one with just radiation in it and nodded at Billy "Give that to him Nora, the radiation will help him heal faster."

Nora and Hancock suddenly turned quickly to Danse when they heard him yelling Ann's name in panic. Nora's heart broke for Danse as she listened to him yell for her to wake up, Ann had stopped breathing and Danse was trying franticly to reawaken her.

Hancock rushed over to Ann and pushed Danse back out of his way. Danse appeared to be in shock and just watched as Hancock ripped Ann's shirt and stabbed her in the chest with his stimpack concoction.

Nora jumped when she saw Ann suddenly sit up wide eyed and gasping for air. Hancock pulled the stimpack from her chest before she even knew it was there. Ann tried to cover her self, but her shirt was tore beyond covering anything.

Hancock surprised Nora by placing his coat on Ann like a blanket.

Danse sat up on his knees and wrapped his arms around Ann nearly pulling her off the couch from holding on to her so tight. He then commanded her not to die, Nora realized Danse wasn't just showing her compassion, he was deeply in love with her. Nora couldn't believe Danse had fallen in love with a ghoul.

(Present)

Nora heard Billy moan. He started to move his arms and his legs like he was trying to run. Nora placed a hand on his warm forehead and spoke to him. "Billy, its ok, your safe." Nora saw Billy's eyes open and look at her.

He sat up quickly and put his hand to his head and winced in pain as he placed his other hand on Nora's arm. "You've got to help them Nora!"

Nora gently pushed Billy back down, his head still had a gash in it that was still healing from the stimpack.

"Help who Billy? what Happened sweet heart?" Nora was trying to use her best motherly voice with him to try and keep him calm.

Billy started to cry as he closed his eyes and spoke to Nora. "My mom and Dad, If we don't hurry they'll use them for the tests, ghouls that leave for the tests never come back. We were chosen to be the next test subjects, but mom and dad helped me escape. I ran as fast as I could all the way here."

Nora got a can of water from Curie and handed it to Billy as she helped him sit back up a little slower. He took the can and just stared at it.

Nora placed her hand on Billy's hand squeezing it to reassure him, "Billy, where are your parents?"

Before Billy could answer Nora heard the front door open and she could hear footsteps make there way to the back bedroom. Nora looked at the door and saw it was Nick. He had a smirk on his face. He looked at Nora then at Billy. "Good to see your awake kid." Billy looked a little startled at Nick's appearance.

Nick ignored Billy's reaction as he got a wooden desk chair and sat close to the bed. Curie sat in a recliner in the corner and closed her eyes wearily.

Nora squeezed Billy 's hand again and smiled at him. "It's ok Billy, Nick's a friend, he's been trying to find you, your parents and a lot of other ghouls."

Billy looked at Nick then back at Nora. "I don't know the name of the place we were being held at, but its in the glowing sea in a building that looks like a giant pyramid."

Nora about fell off the bed. Billy had traveled that whole way by his self? And the description of the pyramid just confirms that the Children of Atom are truly involved.

Nick spoke up and asked Billy questions bluntly. "Billy, do you know anything that might tell us who's kidnapping ghouls? who took you and your parents? do they have any names?" Nick pulled out his lighter and a pack of cigarettes.

Billy nodded his head yes. "First their is the man that smells horrible, he calls his self Father Fusion, and then there are two women, the one that does all the experiments on the ghouls, I think she was called Madison, and the other one I've never heard her name, but I've seen her through the safe room window staring at us like she wanted to just kill us. She always wore power armor, I think she needs it to walk around since you can see through the legs of her power armor." Billy looked down at the bed and spoke in a frightened voice. "They plan on kidnapping every ghoul from the commonwealth for something they have planned. They never talked about what they were going to do with us, but they always spoke about getting more ghouls. After some men in military gear attacked us they flew me and my parents in a Vertibird to that pyramid."

Nora felt her blood drain when she realized who the two women were that Billy was talking about and what they were doing to the ghouls.

If those two women were working together, then something was horribly wrong.

Nick looked at Nora and saw she was weary and tired. The news about what was happening to the ghouls was horrifying. Nick placed his hand on Nora's knee. "Why don't you go and get some rest, I can handle this for the night." Nora Nodded her head as she stood up.

She placed her hand on Nick's shoulder and spoke to him quietly. "We'll talk later at the fire pit once everyone's asleep." She then walked out the room.

Nick looked at Billy and Billy looked at him. Billy took a drink of water and placed the can on the dresser by the bed. "Are you a synth?"

Nick smiled as he lit a cigarette. "Cut right to the heart of things don't you Billy? Yes I'm a synth. My turn, How is it you're a ghoul child?" Nick was just as curious of the boy as the boy was of him.

Billy shook his head and closed his eyes. "I was playing out side before the bombs fell, I saw the blast and panicked. I looked around the junk yard I was playing in and saw an empty old refrigerator. I knew it was lead lined and thought it would be a safe place to hide from the bombs."

Nick looked at Billy with wide eyes. He was a boy from the Nick Valentine's time that his memories were copied from.

Billy opened his eyes and continued to talk. "I was safe from the blast, but I guess some of the radiation made it into the fridge and turned me into a ghoul, I waited for years for someone to walk by that fridge and help me. It was Nora's voice arguing with Hancock that woke me up that day. I yelled out to them and Nora blasted the door off the fridge. I think what kept me from going insane in that darkness was the memories of my mother and father. I had hoped they were still alive when I saw sunlight for the first time." Billy's face lit up as he continued to speak, "Hancock kept us safe since Nora had to hold my hand. She had to help lead me because the light was so blinding at that time. When we got to my old home and I saw my mothers face and my fathers open arms I was happy." Billy started to cry as he thought of his mother and father not wanting to accept what he knew deep down in his heart to be true about them by now, it had been about a week since he left them.

Nick reached into his pocket and pulled out a fancy lad snack cake. He had been saving it for Ellie back at the agency, but Billy looked like he needed it more. Nick handed it to Billy and he took it with a week smile. "Thank you sir."

Nick smiled back at Billy as he got up. "No problem kid, get some sleep after you eat that, your going to need your strength back." Nick walked out the room and stopped in the front room where Daisy was looking down at a sleeping baby in a basket on the table.

Nick walked up beside Daisy and spoke quietly. "You heard what Billy said right?"

Daisy nodded her head and took a deep breath. "Using ghouls for experiments is a horrifying thought Nick, it would figure someone from the institute and the brotherhood is involved."

Nick nodded at the baby in the basket. "What's with the little one?"

Daisy shook her head sadly. "Her mother died giving birth to her, and her father was already dead from a raider attack on there settlement."

Nick shook his head. "Why didn't any of the villagers there take care of the baby?" Nick asked as he watched the little bundle sleep peacefully.

Daisy frowned as she answered Nick. " The baby's mother was the daughter of that rich woman in Diamond city. The mother wanted us to take the baby to her so she could have a better shot at life. Nick, her grandmother is that Ann Coulter bitch."

Nick looked at the baby surprised. He knew her grandmother well, she was a ragged looking old woman who holds her self above everyone thinking that everyone owes her everything. She ran for mayor and thank God the only other people that voted for her were the one's in the stands.

Nick looked at Daisy. "Are you going to take her to her grandmother?"

Daisy nodded her head yes. "I've already radioed ahead and her grandmother is paying a caravan to get her to Diamond city."

Nick nodded his head and placed his hand on Daisy's shoulder knowing it would be hard for her to give the baby up to such a horrible woman.

Nick quietly checked on Billy and saw he had fallen asleep while eating the snack cake. He picked up the cake from his hands and placed it on the dresser next to the water. Nick looked over at Curie and saw she was fast asleep.

Nick left the guest house to go and meet Nora at the fire pit. It was dark, but his synth eyes had no problems seeing in the dark.

Nick got to the fire pit and saw Hancock was there smoking a cigarette. Nick grinned at him. "Still trying to think of a way to get your coat back?"

Hancock looked back at him and shrugged his shoulders. "I already know how I'm getting it back old man. Nora filled me in on what Billy told her." Hancock took a drag of his cigarette as he stared into the flames, a rare sad look was etched on his face.

Nick knew what he was thinking about as he sat on a chair by the fire and lit a cigarette up for his self. Nick turned to Hancock and spoke to him. "I remember when you were Billy's age John, you had just lost your parents, your brother kicked you out onto the streets and you were homeless and needed a place to stay."

Hancock looked at Nick. "And you let me live in your agency until I was on my feet. Yeah I know Nick, you practically raised me after my parents died and my brother disowned me." Hancock took a hit of jet and popped a Mentat.

Nick stared at the flames for a moment. "If Billy's parents are dead John, he's going to need someone to help him like I helped you." Nick heard Hancock shift in his chair.

Hancock looked at Nick with a grin. "Yeah, like I would be the best person to raise a child, I think your processors are malfunctioning Nick."

Nick shook his head as he flicked his cigarette butt into the flames. "Might be good for the both of you. He knows you John, you should have seen the way his face lit up when he talked about you. If anything John, just let him live in GoodNeighbor and have Kent and Daisy help him."

Hancock shook his head in agreement, GoodNeighbor would be a safe place for Billy to be in and he could learn a lot from all the drifters that come and go through the town.

Hancock and Nick heard footsteps walking to the fire pit. Hancock saw it was Nora and RJ. They both had smiles on their faces.

Nick smiled back at them. "You two look a little happy."

Nora sat on a log next go RJ. "lady had eight puppies! Almost all of them look like Dogmeat!" Nora appeared to be glowing as she sat by the fire pit and leaned back into RJ's arms. Nick saw Nora had a special glow about her and looked down at her ankles when he recognized the kind of glow she was in. He smiled the more he looked at her and knew his suspensions were correct.

Nora looked at Hancock and shook her head. "What are your thoughts John?"

Hancock growled as looked at Nora. "Testing on ghouls, that's just sick, I think that even knocks Pickman's gallery down a few spots on the list of fucked up things." Hancock took a hit of his jet and shook his head when he realized it was empty.

Nora shook her head as she thought of Billy. "Poor kid, he lost his parents for so long while he was in that fridge and then to just loose them again like this must be painful for him."

Hancock growled again as he threw the empty jet pack into the fire. "He can live in GoodNeighbor, theirs plenty of room for him there and he'll be around other ghouls that can help him."

Nora blinked at Hancock surprised. "That's a nice thing to do for him John, I was going to say I would adopt him, but being with other ghouls would probably be better for him."

Nick picked up a stick and poked at the flames. "We need to move the ghouls living here in Sanctuary and in other open settlements to a safer, more protected place."

Hancock nodded in agreement. "I can house most of them in GoodNeighbor, but I don't think my town can handle them all."

Nora looked at Nick and Hancock. "The castle is well guarded, I bet Preston won't mind having the extra hands there helping out." Nora looked around and smiled. "We can leave in a few days when the caravan comes for the baby. We can escort them to Diamond city then head to GoodNeighbor."

Everyone sat around the fire pit for a moment to let everything that sink in.

Nora looked at Hancock. "You said Ann fought a radscorpion?"

Hancock smiled as he remembered watching her fight. "Yeah, she had done it mostly bare handed. Some how my Dagger was jammed into its skull."

Nora looked at Hancock. "The one you lost while training Duncan and Shaun?"

Hancock pulled it out and showed it to them. It was still covered in dried green blood. "I'm thinking Duncan passes on his pickpocket lessens that I showed him."

Nora pinched the bridge of her nose as RJ placed the palm of his hand on his face. Both of them spoke in perfect disappointed voices. "Hancock."

Hancock grinned as he look back at Nick. "See Nick, perfect example of my exemplary parenting skills."

Nora suddenly got up and covered her mouth as she ran from the fire pit and threw up near by.

Hancock looked at her confused. "I know it was a bad joke love, but don't ya think your over reacting a bit?

Nora shook her head. "I'm sorry John, I must be coming down with something."

Nick laughed. "Probably something you caught from RJ."

Hancock looked at Nick then at Nora. Something clicked in his mind and he grinned at RJ. "Congratulations."

RJ and Nora were looking at Nick and Hancock clueless. Nick shook his head, he was a detective and he knew how to read people. "Your pregnant Nora."

(((((())))))

Ann was laying with her head on Danse's chest. She had listened to his heart and breathing slow hours ago as he fell into a deep sleep. Ann had hoped she would finally get some sleep, but it felt like her body had infinite energy.

Ann could feel the energy in her body ever so slowly trickle away as she stayed awake through the night memorizing the rhythm of Danse's heart beat.

Ann just wanted to sleep, she didn't feel physically tired, but she felt mentally and emotionally exhausted.

Ann had been thinking about the voices she had heard while she was dead for those brief moments. Maybe it was the venom in her system making her hear things, but she had finally decided on a name she wanted to call her self.

She remembered being in pitch black darkness then there was light as she heard some one calling a name out that Ann liked. She only heard it for a few brief moments before she felt her chest explode and she had opened her eyes to everyone staring at her in the guest house. She remembered how tightly Danse had held on to her.

Ann slowly tilted her head up to look at Danse's face. Ann was unsure of how she felt about him. She cared for him deeply, but she felt it would be wrong to take there relationship further since she was a ghoul. Ann's heart fluttered in her chest when she thought of Danse in a romantic way. Ann wanted to love him as she felt every fiber of her body want to stay right here in this bed with Danse forever.

Ann felt Danse stir and he shifted slightly in his sleep. Ann felt his arm on her back pull her closer to him making Hancock's coat slide off her and on to the bed behind her. With the coat gone her bare breasts were exposed. Danse stopped moving when his hand finally rested on her breast.

Ann's eyes grew wide as she laid there. She could tell from Danse's breathing and his heart beat that he was still asleep and didn't know he had his hand on her chest.

Ann was unsure of what to do. With a slight shrug of her shoulder, Ann closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

Her body was buzzing from that simple touch of his hand on her bare skin making her body warm up. Ann felt her body literally warm up with desire to be touched more. Ann tried to calm her self but she couldn't.

Danse's breathing slowly got faster as he started to move.

Ann looked back up at his face and saw Dance had sweat beads rolling down his face as he opened his eyes and blinked them for a moment before focusing on her bicolored eyes.

Danse smiled as he looked at her. "Good morning bright eyes."

Ann smiled back at him. Despite what Ann's thoughts were moments ago, she felt her desire for him grow. "Good morning Mr. Handy."

Danse looked at Ann confused as she laughed softly. "You've been holding my boob all morning."

Danse jerked his hand away from her chest. "I'm…sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.. I'm sorry…"

Ann smiled as she reached her hand up to his face and touched his short scruffy beard as she tried to calm him. "Its ok Danse…I kind of liked it, otherwise I would have woke you up I guess." Ann couldn't believe what she was saying. There was no way she would have said something like that too him a few moments ago. Ann tried to change the subject as she quickly spoke. "I've finally decided on a New name."

Danse smiled at her as she looked back into his eyes. "I want to be called Kali, I saw it was my middle name and I heard it being called out to me when I was dead in the guest house." Kali looked at Danse and waited for him to reply.

Danse smiled at her. "Then Kali is what I will call you then"

Danse gave Kali a mischievous grin as he placed his hand back on her breast and traced his fingers along her scars.

Kali let out a silent sigh as the fiery heat built in her body. Danse cupped her whole breast in his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Kali took in a sharp breath of air as her body felt like it was set aflame.

Danse turned so his body was facing Kali. He whispered in her ear as he took his hand off of her. "Am I over stepping my boundaries?"

Kali felt like she was burning hot and she wanted him to continue. Kali looked Danse in the eyes as she put her hand on the zipper of his mechanic jump suit and started to pull it down. "Am I over stepping mine?"

Danse reached for kali's pants and undid the button. "Not in the least bit."

Kali pulled his zipper the rest of the way down and saw his chest was nothing but smooth skinned muscles.

Kali looked at her own chest. There was no way he thought she was beautiful, her body was one big ugly scar. Kali started to pull the zipper back up.

Danse placed his hand on hers. "What's wrong?"

Kali shook her head. "There's no way you would want a body like mine against yours. your skin is just so, smooth and perfect, and here I am a walking talking scar. Danse, you don't really want to wake up to my ugly face in the mornings, do you?" Kali felt her eyes tear up as she started to turn away from Dance.

Dance placed his hands on each side of her face puling her back to him and kissed her passionately as he explored her mouth with his.

Kali tried to pull away at first, but the desire in her gave in and she kissed him with as much passion as he was with her.

They finally pulled away from each other and they both breathed hard as their breath came out in foggy puffs from the cold air.

Kali turned her body to face Danse and got on her knees while still on the bed to look at him as he stood up. He removed his mechanic jumpsuit and stood before Kali with only his briefs on. He cupped her face in his hands and looked into her eye's. "I failed to tell the last person how I felt and I was too afraid to show them I even had feelings for them. I'm not going to make that same mistake again. I'm not good at romantic things and such, but I know I love you, I've loved you ever since I held you during that rad storm." Danse watched as Kali started to cry. She smiled and leaned up to Danse while still on her knees. She then ran her hands through his hair. "I love you Danse, more then you will ever kn…."

Kali didn't get to finish, Danse had pulled her into another wildly passionate kiss.

This time he worked on pushing her pants down.

Danse gently laid Kali on her back as he climbed on top of her. Kali was fully naked and Danse was memorizing every inch of her body as he slowly looked at how her skin looked.

Danse took his hand and traced his fingers along the ridges and wrinkles of her scared skin on her stomach. She was hot to the touch and getting hotter the more he touched her.

He slowly followed the scars to her breast and cupped it in his hand and made her gasp. Danse stopped worried he had gone to far. "Are you sure you want to continue?" Kali was completely under his control at this point. The desire she felt for him was making her dizzy. She had all she could do to just nod at Danse as he spread her legs with his other hand and continued to explore her body.

Kali bucked her hips and grabbed a handful of blankets in one hand and a handful of Hancock's coat in another as she let out a low moan that vibrated through his chest.

Danse leaned down to Kali and placed soft kisses on her stomach as he continued to touch her. He slowly left a trail of kisses up her stomach before he finally nibbled on her nipple making her moan his name.

Danse did not have experience with romance, but he did have experience with what the female Knights referred to as releasing. Some of the female Knights he had worked with we're very explicit on how they wanted to be released. In the brotherhood sex was just a form of release and was not done out of romance.

Danse knew this was different from releasing and was trying to be slow and mindful of Kali, he didn't want this to be a bad experience for her.

Her heightened ghoul senses were still strong and they were making her body even more responsive to every touch and caress Danse placed on her and in her.

Kali opened her eyes and looked up at Danse and nodded for him to continue, feeling her energy level was still high and she was ready for more.

Danse got on the bed and knelt between her legs and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I love you Kali, are you sure about this?"

Kali kissed him and nodded her head. Crying out in pleasure when he thrust his hips into her.

((((()))))

Kali was trying to stay awake as she looked at Danse, her body humming and covered in sweat. Kali smiled at him. " I love you."

Danse leaned to her and kissed her bald forehead. He was about to wrap his arms back around Kali when the front door flew open and Danse heard Hancock's boots stumble into his front room like he was drunk.

Danse looked at Kali with a serious face as she started to laugh. "I'm going to kill him this time, I mean it."

Kali just smiled at Danse. "He probably came to get his coat." Kali motioned at the red coat that was behind her head.

Danse got a grin on his face as he got up. He grabbed a pillow that had fallen on the floor and placed it behind Kali's head as he took Hancock's coat.

Dance kissed Kali as they heard Hancock flop his self onto the couch as loud as he could.

Danse grinned as he walked away from Kali. "I've been looking for a way to get back at him, I'll be back love."

Kali reached out and grabbed Danse's hand. "Your naked Danse!"

Danse just smiled at her, "I know."

Hancock was sitting on the couch with a bottle of wine. He wasn't drunk yet, but he had to get his coat back before noon or Nick would win the damn bet. Hancock had a pack of cigarettes on the line for this.

Hancock looked around for his coat and didn't see it. He then heard footsteps walking down the hallway and he looked up as he uncorked the bottle and started to take a drink from it.

Hancock nearly dropped the bottle and spilled some of the wine on his white shirt when he saw a naked Dance appear from the hallway carrying his coat to him.

Hancock smiled, he had heard a woman moaning and cry out on his way through the settlement, but he had thought the sound was coming from one of the houses next to Danse's. Hancock would had never guessed they were coming from his house.

Danse threw Hancock his coat. "You and I both know your not drunk Hancock, I can tell when your drunk and when your not. I always just played along when you acted drunk because Haylen thought it was funny, that's why I never shot you, I enjoyed hearing her laugh."

Hancock started to put his coat on and felt it was damp with sweat. He paused and looked at Danse.

Danse had crossed his arms and was grinning from ear to ear. "She kind of used it for a pillow this morning I guess."

Hancock shook his head with a grin on his face. "It's been through worse, and trust me she's not the only one to have used it for a pillow." Hancock got up from the couch and walked to the door. "Guess this means you two are officially a couple." Hancock handed Danse the wine bottle. "My congratulations." Hancock then opened the door to walk out and looked back at Danse as he turned to go back to the bedroom and he saw the bloody scratches that marked his back.

Hancock stopped and spoke to Danse. "Don't forget to take some rad away ghouls give off radiation when their aroused. By the way, those scratches look like they hurt." Hancock quickly ducked out the door with a smile on his face as Danse turned to Hancock and raised his fist at him.

Danse locked the door and walked to the kitchen to get two cans of water. He walked back to the bedroom and looked at Kali. She was curled up in his bed fast asleep.

(((((())))))

Madison was sitting at her desk as her partner slept in a bed. She heard a knock on the door. Madison got up and opened the door. There was a BOS soldier standing there.

Madison smiled. "Well, what news do you have for me?"

The soldier looked at her and smiled. "Our settler implant in Sanctuary reports that they are planning to take all the ghouls to GoodNeighbor and the castle. They also report that the woman the priest spoke of is indeed there. She is a strong non feral ghoul, it is reported she's the one that took out the Radscorpion that we set loose on the ghoul boy."

Madison smiled at the soldier and nodded at him to dismiss him.

Madison smiled knowing her plans we're coming together better then she ever could have thought.


	8. Its just a nose

I am not very good at describing voices, the best I can describe Kali's voice is a deep Macy Grey.

(Just a reminder, Ann's new name is Kali.)

Kali opened her eyes to bright sun light coming through the window. Kali stretched and sat up looking for Danse and saw he wasn't in the room.

Kali slid out of the bed and was still naked as she looked around for her clothes.

Kali found her torn shirt but her pants were missing. Kali looked up at the bed and noticed some clothes that were neatly folded by the footboard with a note pinned on top. "It's not much, but its Something for you to wear until we can get you more clothes of your own, it should fit since it is adjustable."

Kali unfolded the clothes and saw it was an orange looking jump suit in her size with military looking patches and embroidered insignias over it.

Kali put on the jump suit and had to make a few adjustments to it to make it fit her more comfortably. Kali left the room and looked in the rest of the house for Danse and saw he was gone.

Kali went to the front door and opened it blinking her eyes as she went outside into the blinding light and looked around the settlement for Danse.

Kali saw Nick was helping some other ghouls pack things into a trunk. Hancock was sitting by the fire pit smoking a cigar while he was stirring something in a pot.

Kali walked to the fire pit to ask Hancock where everyone was at.

Hancock looked up at her when she got closer and blinked his eyes a few times then laughed as he shook his head spoke to her. "Was wondering when you were going to rejoin the living sister, if your looking for Danse he's on a hunting trip with the boys and MacCready to get some food for our trip tomorrow."

Kali sat on a stump close to Hancock and smelled what he was stirring. It smelled strongly foul and very disgusting making Kali wrinkle her nose. "What is that stuff Hancock?"

Hancock inhaled a deep breath and grinned at her. "That's the smell of freshly made adhesive, one of the most hard to find resources in the commonwealth."

Kali wrinkled her nose again, she felt something fall from her face and saw Hancock's eyes go wide as he sat suddenly motionless staring at Kali's face. He stopped stirring the pot of adhesive and looked down at the ground. "Holy shit love, I'm sorry."

Hancock bent down and picked something up off the ground and gave Kali a week smile and tried to joke with her as he handed her what she dropped. "Got your nose love."

Kali looked at Hancock's hand thinking he was joking with her, but sure enough, he was holding something that looked like a nose.

Kali eyes went wide with rising panic as she reached up to touch her face. Kali cried out in fear when she felt a gaping hole on her face where her nose once was.

Kali gave Hancock a horrified look as she stood up with tears in her eyes. "Oh God, Hancock!" Kali started to cry as she looked around trying to hide her face. She felt hideous before and now she felt truly terrifying. How was she going to face Danse now? Was he still going to love her without a nose? Was she dying? Will more body parts fal….Kali suddenly felt strong arms wrap around her breaking her thoughts while she heard Hancock's voice talk to her in a calming tone. "Calm down love and just breath, its just a nose, it's not the end of the world."

Kali took deep breaths of air as she slowed her breathing and fought the panic. She felt Hancock take his arms off her and he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry love, but this happens to all of us ghouls at some point. It just happens sooner for some and later for others, just think of it as shedding your old life for a new one." Hancock Handed her nose back to her and nodded at the fire. "When your ready, just toss that in the fire, its kind of a traditional thing to destr…."

Kali tossed the nose to the fire and missed. Her nose landed right into the pot of adhesive.

Hancock laughed as he used the stir stick to get it out and dropped it into the fire for her.

Kali blushed as she sat back down and felt her face again noticing her sense of smell was better then it was before with her nose gone. Kali looked at Hancock. "Does my face look bad?"

Hancock shook his head. "I think your ghoulish beauty is better without a nose, makes you look a little more refined." Hancock grinned as he poured the finished adhesive into some jars.

Kali looked around the settlement again and saw there was a lot of movement going on. It looked like most of the people were getting ready to leave.

Kali motioned to everyone as she spoke. "What's going on? Why is everyone packing?"

Hancock growled in anger then answered her question. "There are people in the commonwealth who want to do experiments on us ghouls. According to Billy, the boy you saved, there is going to be a mass purge of ghouls in the commonwealth, so we are trying to get everyone to a safe place that's a little more protected with walls. Most of us are going to my town GoodNeighbor, the others are going to a place called the castle."

Kali was speechless for a moment. Then tilted her head slightly. "Hancock, you have a town? Does that mean your like a leader or something?"

Hancock smiled as he stirred in ingredients to make another batch of adhesive. "I'm Mayor and you can just call me John like all my other friends do, here hold this for a moment while I get all this shit stirred together." Hancock handed his lit cigar to her as he used both of his hands on the stir stick to mix everything in the pot.

Kali looked at the lit cigar and felt calmed by the smell of it. Without even thinking, it felt like an old habit as Kali brought the cigar to her lips and inhaled. The taste of the cigar made her close her eyes and let out a low moan of pleasure. Kali let out the cigar smoke and felt her head spin from the nicotine rush.

When Kali opened her eyes Hancock was staring at her wide eyed. "Damn sister, didn't know you liked cigars that much." Hancock adjusted his pants. He then reached out for his cigar and took it back from Kali as he quickly sat back down.

Kali handed it back to him as her face turned red. "I'm sorry John, the smell just made me get lost in my mind, I guess I must have liked cigars in my past."

Hancock took a drag off the cigar and let the smoke out of his mouth as he spoke. "I don't mind, Nora used to smoke my cigarettes like that too."

Kali watched Hancock stir the adhesive for a moment then spoke to him. "If your Mayor, then why are you here and not with your town? Shouldn't a mayor be with his town"

Hancock grinned at her as he took another drag. "I'm here because I got a call on the radio from Nora about a woman who was turning into a ghoul and needed help. So I called in a favor with a friend of mine named Tinker Tom and had him fly me here to help said woman."

Kali shook her head and looked at the fire and saw the adhesive start to bubble. "Did she make it?"

Hancock laughed. "Yeah, she's sitting next to me right now."

Kali looked around and realized he was talking about her. "Oh, I...should have put that one together my self."

Hancock looked up at her and smiled, then he nodded at something behind her. "Looks like the boys are back, an it looks like someone got a nice radstag."

Kali turned to look behind her and saw Danse was wearing that big suit of armor that he normally kept in his house and saw he was carrying a large deer….with two heads?

Kali turned back to Hancock and covered her nose as the adhesive started to bubble more. "What if he doesn't love me anymore without my nose John?"

Hancock smiled as he continued to stir the adhesive as the smell got worse. "Then I'll punch him so fucking hard he'll be seeing stars till next week for doing something so damn stupid."

Kali heard Danse walk up to them and heard him put down the radstag. Kali felt Danse place his armored hand on her shoulder. "Good to see your awake Kali, everything ok?"

Danse could tell something was wrong when she hesitated to answer him and wouldn't look at him. He noticed the old BOS jumpsuit Haylen left behind fit Kali perfectly. He didn't like seeing the suit on her since it reminded him of his past life, but it was all he had that would have fit her.

Danse hit the release mechanism in his suit and stepped out of it. He placed both of his hands on her shoulders and looked at Hancock for clues. He was starring daggers of warnings at Danse.

Danse begun to worry as Kali stood up and was looking down at the ground as she turned to face him. Hancock drug a finger across his neck, pointed at Danse then at his nose and shook his head.

Danse gently put his fingers on Kali's chin and lifted her face up. Danse looked at Ann..no..Kali's face and saw her nose was gone and understood what Hancock was trying to tell him.

Danse smiled at her and pretended nothing was different. "What's wrong kali? Are you angry I left you alone? I didn't want to wake you since you were sleeping so soundly." He then held the back of her head as he leaned down and kissed her right there in front of everyone.

Danse let go of her and saw she was smiling and crying. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her to him as he looked back at Hancock. Danse saw the ghoul nod with a grin on his face as he gave Dance a thumbs up while stirring the adhesive.

Danse let her go and saw she was looking at the power armor. "I thought that thing was just decoration. It must be heavy and hard moving around in that." Kali walked over to the suit and was about to touch it when she was tackled by two boys hugging her.

Kali looked at both of them wide eyed as they let her go. Shaun started talking excitedly. "I missed you this morning Aunt Ann. I fixed something for you after hearing about the radscorpion from Duncan! Is it true you killed it with it's own stinger? Is that why your nose is gone!"

Duncan gently slapped the back of Shaun's head then he turned away and walked back to RJ.

Kali stared at Shaun. She heard Danse cough and Hancock drop the stir stick into the pot. "You better believe it Shaun, took it clean off right before she killed it, saw it happen with my own eye's." Hancock picked up the jars of adhesive and nodded at Shaun. "Shaun, I got some adhesive that's ready for the weapons work bench, do you think you can deliver it?" Shaun looked at Kali then at Hancock. He had so much he wanted to say to Kali.

Kali smiled at Shaun and placed her hand on his head. "Call me Aunt Kali from now on kiddo, we'll talk tomorrow morning at the scrap bench, then you can give me that thing you were talking about." Kali's voice cracked a little as she tried hard to not cry in front of Shaun as she ruffled his hair and then watched him run off as he took the jars of adhesive to the weapons bench.

Kali sighed and touched her face again. "I'm a freak."

Danse wrapped his arms around her and spoke to her in a gentle voice. "Your not a freak Kali, your beauty doesn't come from how you look but from how you treat the people around you and you have been nothing but beautiful to me. I don't care how you look, your soul is so beautiful it makes me blind and all I see is love for you, besides I think you look beautifully refined without your nose."

Danse heard Hancock whistle. "Damn Danse, that was fucking deep, good for you." Danse was about to comment back at Hancock, but Kali had placed her hand on his face to bring his attention back to her. "I love you Danse."

Danse smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "Love you too Kali."

Kali turned away from Danse when she felt the heat rise in her body. She looked back at the power armor and saw Duncan was behind it dressing the two headed deer thing with RJ. Kali wondered if Duncan was ok after the Radscorpion incident.

Kali then looked back at the power armor and put her hand on it. "How do you move around in something so heavy Danse?"

Danse smiled as he walked around to the back of the power armor and adjusted the foot holds in the legs. He then took her hand and nodded at the power armor. "Get in it and find out for your self."

Kali looked at Danse then at the power Armor. She went around to the back of it and placed her foot into the leg of the armor. As she put her foot in and stepped down, the power armor clicked and held her foot in place. Kali tried to pull her self up into the power armor and felt Danse help lift her into it the rest of the way. He helped her place her other foot into the other leg locking that foot in place also. "Watch your head, don't jump or panic, its going to close in around you…"

Kali heard the power armor hiss as it encased her into a metal body of protection. The helmet lowered over her head and she felt safe inside of the suit.

Danse got in front of her and she saw him light up with a red light outlining his body making him stand out, Kali looked at Hancock and saw he had a look of pure astonishment on his face. He had stopped stirring the adhesive and Kali saw it start to smoke.

She looked back at Danse and saw he was waiting for her to get used to the power armor. "You ok in there?"

Kali nodded her head and felt the power armor move easily with her body movements. She picked her arm up and looked at her hand, or the power armor hand. She felt huge wearing the power armor.

Danse waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Hey, go ahead and walk to the main bridge leading to the red rocket and come back."

Kali nodded since she wasn't sure if he would be able to hear her speak through all the metal.

Kali took a step and then another. Walking in the power armor was easier then walking with out it. Kali walked effortlessly to the bridge, it was an awesome feeling wearing this suit. Kali looked at her hand and flexed her fingers watching in amazement as the power armor mimicked her movements.

When Kali put her hand down she saw a woman was running at her with a big smile on her face. She was wearing an orange jump suit like hers.

The woman wrapped her arms around Danse's armor and looked up at Kali. "I'm sorry Danse, I shouldn't have left you. I was wrong and stupid for leaving you over something so insignificant. I will wait for as long as it takes for you to love me back. Will you have me back love?"

Kali felt her heart break thinking Danse will for sure leave her for this woman in front of her. This woman was beautiful and she was all over her thinking she was Danse. Kali took a step back and tried to speak to her. "I'm not Danse." Kali was surprised, the helmet must have had a speaker built into it when Kali heard her voice come out statically.

The woman got an angry confused look on her face. "Who the hell are you and why are you wearing Danse's power armor?"

The woman pulled out a gun and aimed it at Kali.

Kali put her hands up and took a step back. "My names Kali, he let me try it on."

The woman's face got a fierce angry look to it as she put her gun back in its holder. "Bull fucking shit! Danse never let's anyone wear his power armor, not even me!"

Kali didn't have a chance to react. The woman quickly ducked around to her back and Kali heard the power armor hiss and click as it suddenly opened up. Kali felt the woman grab the back of her jump suit and felt her self being pulled out so violently her ankle snapped as she was dragged out and slammed hard into to the ground. The woman looked at her and gave her a look of pure anger when she saw Kali's face. "You filthy fucking ghoul, not only were you in his power armor, but your wearing my old BOS jump suit!"

The woman grabbed Kali by the collar of the jump suit pulled her up violently to her feet and punched her hard in the face. Kali saw white light flash before her eyes and tried not to put weight on her broken ankle as she stumbled a little.

Kali was now pissed this woman was hurting her for no reason. Kali ducked another blow and thrust her knee into the woman's stomach and punched her in the face when she started to doubled over.

The woman let go of her with a grunt of pain as her head recoiled back from Kali's blow to her nose.

Kali tried to run from her with her broken ankle, but the woman jumped on Kali with a yell of rage knocking her to the ground. She flipped Kali onto her back and knelt down hard on Kali's chest making it hard for her to breath and felt her heart struggle to beat under her weight.

With blood pouring out of her nose, the woman started punching kali in the face, blow after blow. Kali tried to hold her hands up to defend her self, but the woman just grabbed them and placed her knees painfully on Kali's forearms pining them down as she continued to punch Kali in the face knocking her out cold.

The woman pulled out her gun cocked it back aiming it at Kali's face.

"Put your weapon down SOLDIER!"

The woman froze at the familiar command and looked up. Danse was running to her with anger etched on his face. He yanked the gun angrily out of her hands as he pushed her off of Kali and knelt down to her.

Danse saw Kali was unconscious and bleeding heavily from her mouth and where her nose once was. He saw she also had a few cuts on her face where her skin was split open from the blows.

"The fuck Danse? Why the hell was that filthy ghoul in your power armor? Why is it wearing MY clothes?"

Danse turned and glared at her. "Because I love her Haylen! Go back to where you belong and get the hell out of here."

Danse picked up Kali and left Haylen standing in shock. She couldn't believe Danse was choosing a ghoul over her. Haylen picked her gun up from the ground and aimed it at Danse's back as tears of anger fell down her face.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Haylen turned and saw Nora was pointing a gun at her. She was standing with Nick, Hancock and RJ behind her, all of them pointing guns at her.

Haylen laughed. "What the hell is so damn special about that fucking ghoul to make him chose her over me?"

Nora glared at Haylen and spoke. "She was there for Danse after you broke his heart and left him emotionally shattered to go back to the very people who wanted him dead."

Haylen shrugged her shoulders and laughed. She put her gun away and turned away from Nora to the bridge and walked over it with out another word.

Danse rushed Kali to the guest house. He laid her on the couch as Billy poked his head out of the bedroom. When he saw Kali he rushed into the living room and stood next to Danse. "Is she going to be ok? She's bleeding so much, she's not going to die is she?"

Danse nodded his head as he put a rolled up blanket behind her head. "She was just knocked out kid, face wounds tend to bleed more then other wounds." Danse was looking over the cuts on her face.

Danse looked at Billy. "Get me a clean wet rag from the bathroom." Danse looked back at Kali.

Danse got up and walked to the dresser where the med supplies were kept and got out a stimpack.

He took it over to Kali and administered it little by little to her face wounds. He didn't want to risk using too much, some people tend to get addicted to it. He used just enough to heal the small cuts on her face and watched Kali as her cuts closed adding more scars to her face.

He picked her back up and sat on the couch with her on his lap holding her against his chest. As he held her, he shook his head thinking about how he almost lost her again. Why does trouble keep finding her?

Dance couldn't believe Haylen would come back after leaving him the way she did. He probably would have welcomed her back with open arms, but when he saw her aim that gun at Kali, what ever feelings he had left for her disappeared.

Danse felt Kali stir in his arms and wake up. She looked up at him and touched his face. "What happened?"

Danse looked at her concerned. "We're in the guest house, you were knocked unconscious, what do you remember?" Danse asked her to make sure she was ok and didn't have a concussion.

Kali shook her head to clear away the brain fog. "I remember being pulled out of your armor by that woman, we fought and I tried to run from her, she got on top of me and then I don't remember anything after that."

Danse wrapped his arms around her and held her. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. Do you remember me telling you I lost someone because I never told them I loved them?"

Kali nodded her head knowing this was it. He was going to tell her he was leaving her for that woman. "That was her, am I right?"

Danse nodded his head.

Kali let a tear fall from her face, "Your going back to her aren't you?"

Danse looked down at Kali's green and amber eyes. "No love, you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, and since the both of us don't age, that's going to be a very long time."

Kali looked at him puzzled. "What o you mean by not aging?"

Danse kissed her forehead. "I'm a synth, I will stay as I am for hundreds of years. You are a ghoul, you age slower then normal people and will probably live for hundreds of years like me."

Kali smiled as she reached her hand up and pulled his head down to her and kissed him deeply as his soft scruffy beard tickled the freshly healed skin on her face.

Kali let go and smiled at him. "That gives us plenty of time to take care of a lot of lost children."

Kali heard a cough and looked away from Danse and saw Billy standing next to them with a wet rag in his hand.

Kali recognized him and smiled at him. "You're the boy I saved, how are you?"

Billy nodded his head as he handed the wet rag to Danse. "I'm alive thanks to you." Billy looked around the room for somewhere to sit and sat in the big red recliner.

Danse used the rag to clean the blood off Kali's face. He looked at the BOS jump suit and saw some of her blood had dripped on to it.

Kali smiled at Danse then turned to Billy while still sitting on Danse's lap. "Why were you running from that scorpion thing?"

Billy looked at his feet then back at Kali with tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "I was running here to get help from Nora, My parents and I were held in a building in the glowing sea with a bunch of feral ghouls. The people who held us there were using us for experimentation." Billy took a deep ragged breath and continued. "After Father Fusion told Madison about a woman he had teleported, she told him to prepare my family for final experiments. My mom and dad helped me escape. Ghouls never come back after they take them away for experiments."

Billy's voice cracked as he pulled his legs up into the recliner and hugged his knees as he started to stare off into nothing while rocking.

Kali had felt Danse's body tense up when Billy talked about the teleportation device and the woman.

Danse looked at Billy and shook his head. "You came all the way here from the sentinel site by your self?"

Billy nodded his head as he looked back down at his feet.

Danse absent mindedly ran his hand along Kali's back making her close her eyes enjoying the touch. "That's impressive Billy, that's a deadly place to be traveling around in." Danse saw Billy 's face light up with the compliment. Danse looked Billy in his eyes. "Did that priest say anything more about the woman?"

Billy nodded and stopped rocking. "He said the woman was taken here to Sanctuary, that's when the Madison woman told him she would find a way to get the woman back for him."

Danse put his hand to his face as he took a deep breath. He let it out in a frustrated sigh as he let his hand drop to the couch. He looked at Kali and shook his head. "You are not to wonder off on your own anymore do you understand?"

Kali gave him a defiant look. "I can handle my self, why the sudden worry where I go?"

Danse placed his hand on the side of her face. "Because I love you and I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you." Danse kissed her and looked at her scars. "I wouldn't call getting killed by a radscorpion and getting knocked out in a fight handling your self."

Kali pulled back from Danse with a fierce look on her face. "Then teach me how to defend my self. You've already showed me how to take care of your guns, now show me how to use the damn things."

Danse saw the fierceness in her eyes and it turned him on.

Danse looked at Billy sitting in the recliner behind Kali and mentally cursed that Billy was there or he would have made love to her right there on the couch.

Kali placed her rough hand over his, put it to her mouth and kissed it while she looked him in the eyes. "Well?"

Danse smiled at her and nodded his head. "Let me put my power armor away and I'll get some guns for us to train with."

Kali went to stand up and yelped in pain and fell back onto Danse. "My ankle, it hurts!"

Danse helped her sit against the arm of the couch. He undid the laces of her shoe and started to pull it off and Kali yelled out in pain again. Danse felt gently around her foot and felt it was swollen against the shoe making it hard to pull off without hurting her.

Danse gently started to move her foot around trying to asses the level of medical treatment she needed. It wasn't good to keep relying on the stimpacks or you take a chance of getting addicted to them.

He felt her bones grind and Kali screamed in pain as she pulled her foot from him causing her ankle to hurt more. Kali gripped the fabric of the couch and gritted her teeth as she held back another scream of pain.

Hancock and Nora rushed into the guest house and looked at Danse and Kali.

"You two know Billy is in the room, and you shouldn't be doing that kinda stuff in front of him." Hancock grinned at Danse and Kali.

Danse looked at Hancock and flipped him the bird. "I was checking her ankle, I think its broken."

Hancock walked over to Kali and saw her foot was swollen in the shoe. "Just give her a stimpack, should heal it right up." Hancock went to the dresser to get one.

Danse shook his head. "Already used some of one to heal her face, cant use anymore with out risking her becoming addicted to stimpacks."

Nora nodded her head in agreement. "He's right John."

Hancock shrugged his shoulders then turned to Danse as he leaned back on the dresser with a Jet container in his hand. "What's wrong with becoming addicted to a little something?" Hancock asked as he took a hit of jet.

Danse looked at Hancock and gave him a grin. "Nothing is wrong with it until you run out and cant get another hit, making you become useless in battle."

Hancock crossed his arms and huffed. "It only happened that one time, since then I make sure to stay well stocked before going into a raider hideout."

Daisy walked in through the door holding the baby in her arms. She looked tired and weary. The baby was fussing and wriggling in her arms. Daisy saw Kali and widened her eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry dear I didn't know you were in here." Daisy turned to leave.

Kali leaned forward. "No don't leave, It's ok daisy."

The baby in Daisy's arms stopped crying and was still for a moment.

Kali reached out to Daisy and nodded at the baby. "I can hold her for awhile and let you have a break."

The baby let out a laugh and Daisy smiled as she walked the baby over to Kali.

Kali took the baby and held it in her arms. The baby looked at her and cooed at Kali.

Hancock laughed as he pulled a vial of radiation from his coat pocket. "Here Danse, when she's done holding the baby give her this with an irradiated blood bag. Radiation will heal a ghoul just as good as any stimpack, Just remember to take some Rad-X your self, she'll be radioactive for awhile afterword's." Hancock walked over to Danse and handed him the vile. Hancock Smiled at Kali. "I got some things that need to be taken care of before we all leave tomorrow." Hancock walked away and left out the door.

Danse put the vial in one of his pockets on his mechanic jump suit.

He looked at Nora while Kali played with the baby. "Nora, I think we have a problem."

Nora looked at Danse and crossed her arms. "When don't we have problems?"

Danse shook his head in agreement. "Good point, Billy just told me Madison knows Kali is here and plans on taking her back."

Billy looked at Kali with wide eyes. "Your the woman that was teleported?"

Kali looked up from the baby and looked at Billy. "I don't know, I woke up in a bathtub with no memories of my past."

Danse placed his hand on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Billy, this is the woman that priest was talking to Madison about."

Billy shook his head and looked at Kali in wonder.

Danse looked back at Nora. "I know were busy with getting ready for departure, but can you make sure it is known to everyone not to let her be alone."

Nora Nodded at Danse. "I'll let everyone know." Nora then shook her head in disbelief. "How do they even know she's here?"

Danse took a deep breath and looked at the BOS jump suit Kali was wearing. "Infiltration was a skill the Brotherhood was good at."

Nora placed her hand on her chin in thought as she looked down at the ground. She then looked at Kali then Danse. "I'm going to talk to Nick. Maybe he might be able to help us figure out who the infiltrator is." Nora walked out of the guest house in a hurry to find Nick.

Billy got up and walked over to Kali. "She's so cute, what's her name?"

Kali looked at Daisy who was in the kitchen preparing a bottle for the baby. She looked back at Kali and Billy shaking her head. "She has no name. Her mother died before she could choose one. I'm sure her grandmother will name her some gaudy name when she gets her."

Kali looked at the baby and thought for a moment. "Well, then lets give her a nickname until then. I think…. Joy would be a great name until her Grandmother can give her a new one."

Billy looked at Kali with a confused look on his face. "Why Joy?"

Kali grinned at the baby as she smiled back at her. "That's why, her face is always so full of joy when I see her."

Daisy walked over to Kali and took the baby from her. "She's only like that when your around sister." Daisy gave Danse a bottle of Rad-X and nodded at Kali.

Danse waited for Daisy to take the baby to the recliner and start to feed her before pulling the radiation vile out of his pocket. He then took a Rad-X pill and started to offer one to Billy then remembered he was a ghoul.

Danse went over to the dresser and got out a pack of irradiated blood and added the vial of radiation to it.

He then walked back to Kali and motioned for her arm. Kali hesitated. "You know I don't like needles Danse."

"I know Kali, but have I been wrong about them helping you yet?" Danse had basic medical field training since it was a requirement for a Paladin to know a little of everything.

Kali took a deep breath and let it out in a low growl. "Fine, lets just get this over with."

Kali held her arm out for Danse and looked away as he put the IV needle into her vein on the back of her hand.

Kali winced as the needle went into her skin. He held the bag up and Kali could feel the contents of the bag flow into her. Suddenly everything got bright as the radiation flowed into her body and helped her heal from everything that had been done to her. She felt the tickling of the bubbles all through the inside of her body making her feel like she was floating. Kali gasped and laughed as the feeling made her light headed and intoxicated.

Danse looked at her worried. "Are you ok?"

Kali looked at Danse with a goofy grin. "Never felt better love." Kali looked at him and narrowed her eyes, it suddenly felt like her body was burning with desire for Danse the more her blood flowed through her. The Radiation in her system was making her body ache for Danse in a way she never thought possible. Memories of what they had done the night before fueled the fire deep in her chest. It reached a point that she couldn't stand it no longer and pulled Danse to her and kissed him hard as she ran her hands through his beard then along the side of his head and through his hair on the back of his head.

Kali pulled back from him breathless and saw a look of surprise on his face. Kali wanted more of him, but looked at Billy then at Daisy. Kali snapped her face back to Danse and got close to his ear and whispered seductively. "I want to go home Danse."

Danse picked Kali up with a confused look on his face as he walked her to the door. Daisy laughed as she looked up from Joy as she drank the brahma milk from her bottle. "Good luck Danse."

Billy closed the door and looked at Daisy. "Why did they leave so fast?"

Daisy smiled as she watched Joy fell asleep drinking her bottle of Brahma milk. "Because they love each other child. You'll know more about it when you grow up."

)))))(((((

Hancock was standing at the weapons bench working on a small sawed off shot gun. He was never good at this kind of shit, but he was tired of seeing Kali defenseless. He looked up and saw Danse carrying Kali to his house. He had a worried and confused look on his face and saw Kali was staring at him with pure lust. Hancock smiled knowing that radiation at high amounts for a ghoul was like drinking alcohol mixed with Calmex and day tripper.

Hancock shook his head as he continued to work on the gun. Lucky bastard probably doesn't even have a clue she's about to make him one very happy man.

)))))((((

Danse carried Kali into his house and set her down gently on her feet. Kali wobbled a little like she was drunk and she just stood there watching him. Danse opened the door and felt Kali push him into the house. He barely had a chance to shut the door while she pulled him to the bedroom.

Danse placed his hands on her shoulders making her stop for a moment. "What's gotten into you? I thought you wanted me to teach you how to defend your self?" Kali placed her fingers on the zipper to his mechanic suit and started to pull the zipper down slowly. "It can wait."

The sound of her voice was deep and full of lust. The sound of her voice and the way she was pulling his zipper down was making him want her in ways he never thought of.

He pulled his arms out of the mechanic jumpsuit and stepped out of it as Kali pushed him forcefully on to the bed.

She crawled on top of him as she ran her hands up his chest and to his face. She kissed him and explored his mouth with her tongue as she pressed her self onto him.

Danse was breathing hard as he reached for the zipper on her jump suit and pulled it down releasing her. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him.

Kali looked at him with a look of pure feral lust and kissed him deeply and passionately.

(((((())))))

Nora and Nick were at the fire pit talking when they heard the faint sounds both Danse and Kali yell out as they both got lost in each others pure bliss.

Nora shook her head as she looked at her Pip boy. "Its 3 in the afternoon!"

Hancock smiled as he walked up to them and grinned. "I might be the one to blame for that. You should know Nora, you remember how I always got when we ran into those areas of high radiation." He looked at her with a goofy grin.

Nora blushed as she remembered. That was before she and Hancock had their big argument and broke up. She met MacCready at the third rail that night and they have been together ever since. Nora has made amends with Hancock since then and he has become her closest friend. He was one of MacCready's best men at their the wedding.

Nora looked at Hancock and smiled. "Yes I remember John."

Hancock pulled a cigarette from his pack and lit it. He nodded at Danse's house. "What are we going to do about Kali? Now that we know Madison wants her."

Nora and Nick smiled. "Funny you should ask John, Nick and I just got done talking about that and were wondering if you would be willing to help us set a trap for who ever it is that's working for Madison."

Hancock got a bad feeling when he looked at Nora then at Nick with there mischievous grins. "Why do I get the feeling this is not going to be something I'm going to be allowed to say no to."

(((((())))))

Kali and Danse were laying in the bed wrapped in each others arms. They were breathing heavily and both were sweating hard as they laid there catching there breath.

Danse watched her breasts fall up and down as she breathed in and out. " That… was exhilarating."

Kali nodded. "I'm sorry Danse, I don't know what came over me, it was like the radiation stripped me of everything that held me back and I was free to do anything I wanted."

Danse smiled as he held her closer to him. "Don't apologize, that was incredible love."

Kali smiled at him. "Are you happy Danse?"

Danse looked at her with a confused look. "Why would you ask that?"

Kali looked ashamed at even asking the question. "The way that woman ran to me and hugged me as she told me how much she loved you made me worry that maybe you were unhappy about being with someone like me. She was so beautiful."

Danse placed his hand on her face. "I don't know how many times I've said this to you already, but ill say it again. I love you and only you. I haven't been this happy since I joined the brotherhood when I was a kid."

Kali looked at Danse. "Why did you join?"

Danse took a deep breath and let it out. "I was an orphan, I collected junk and sold it with a friend of mine to survive while living in the waste land. We both joined the Brotherhood of Steel hoping to better our lives."

Kali understood why Danse loved her so much now. She remembered his reaction to her telling him she was going to build a place for the orphaned and lost children of the commonwealth. And understood it was because he was once an orphan his self.

"Where is your friend? Is he still apart of the Brotherhood?"

Danse closed his eyes and rolled on to his back as he looked up at the ceiling. "No, he died. I had to put him down after his team disappeared in a mutant hive. I spearheaded a mission to rescue him and his team a week after they disappeared. Every one in his unit had died and he had been exposed to the forced evolutionary virus making him turn into a mutant. He attacked me and I was forced to put him down."

Kali was horrified. To have to put down some one you cared for was a chilling thought for her.

Kali put her arm around Danse and hugged him. He took a deep breath and turned back to Kali and smiled. "That was the past, I cant keep letting the past dictate my future." Kali saw a tear fall across his face and knew he was still hurting over the loss of his friend. Kali wiped the tear off his face and they held each other for awhile.

Kali listened to familiar beat of his heart as it slowed and his breathing got deeper as he fell asleep. He was asleep for about an hour when Kali felt him move. She looked up at him and saw he was still asleep. He started moving in jerky movements as he started to sweat and mumble in his sleep. His face got a pained look on it as he became more active in his sleep.

Kali sat up and placed her hand on his face. "Danse, wake up, Danse." Kali placed her hand on his shoulder and shook him a little. Danse suddenly opened his eyes and looked at kali for a second and punched her hard in the face like he was trying to stab her with an invisible knife.

Kali yelled out in pain as Danse froze. "Oh God, Kali," Danse reached out to her and pulled her to him. "Oh god love I'm sorry." He started to rock her as he tried to comfort her and his self.

Kali took a deep breath and pulled back from Danse. "I'm okay Danse, you were having a bad dream is all." She looked at Danse and he could tell she was going to have a black eye from his blow to her face.

The door to Danse's house suddenly burst open and he could hear Hancock stumble in acting like he was drunk again.

Danse got an angry look on his face as he put the mechanic jumpsuit on half way and stormed out into his front room. Hancock was standing there with his hands in the air and was backing away from an angry Danse.

"Don't kill me man, it was all Nora's idea."

Danse stopped advancing onto Hancock. "You have three seconds to explain yourself John before I beat the ghoul out of you."

Nora and Nick were sitting at the fire pit watching Danse's house. Hancock had disappeared into the house and was in there for about ten minutes before Danse was dragging him out the house by the back of his coat.

"Stay the fuck out of my house Hancock! I'll fucking kill you the next time you waltz in here drunk like that!" Danse was yelling at Hancock as loud as he could and punched him in the face before going back inside his house.

Nora cringed. That looked like it hurt. "Now is when we find out if Danse is ready to make the plan work."

Nick and Nora watched as Hancock stormed away to the guest house. They saw Danse's door open up and Kali walked out holding Danse's hand. They hugged and Danse kissed her on her forehead quickly as she left his house. Nick and Nora smiled as they watched her walk to the bridge leading to the Vault and knew she was going to walk all the way to Vault 111 alone by herself.

Nick and Nora looked around the settlement and waited. Nora noticed June, the woman who worked in the gardens, glance around and head to the bridge leading up to vault 111. "Not June, I really liked her."

They saw June pull out a radio and a gun as she disappeared going up the hill.

Nick smiled as he watched her go. "She's about to get a rude surprise."

June had pulled out her radio to call in some of the close by troops. They were on standby waiting for this to happen. As soon as June saw Kali walk up the hill to the Vault alone she knew it would be a perfect moment to capture her and take her to the sentinel site.

June got up the hill and looked around for Kali. She saw her sitting alone and was wearing the BOS jumpsuit. It was disgraceful to see a ghoul wearing something so iconic to the brotherhood.

Kali was sitting with her back to June and she quietly walked up to Kali.

Kali suddenly stood up and pointed a sawed off shot gun at her. "So you're the implant." June felt her stomach drop when she realized It was Hancock.


	9. Nightmare

Hancock started undressing in Danse's front room.

Danse took a step back from Hancock. "What are you doing John?"

Hancock paused. He looked at Danse and smiled. "Thought we could have a three way."

Danse shook his head, took a deep breath and glared at Hancock.

Kali heard Hancock yell out "Fuck! I was just kidding!" Kali jumped out of bed, wrapped her self with a blanket and walked out of the bed room. She stopped when she saw Hancock half undressed in the front room rubbing his arm. She paused and stared at him wide eyed.

Hancock laughed as he continued to undress. "It's Nora's idea. I'm to wear her clothes and she's to wear mine. Nora and Nick figure if Kali walks off on her own, whoever is the implant should follow her."

Danse started to object then his eyes got wide as he nodded his head. "That is… surprisingly not a bad idea."

Danse and Hancock both looked at Kali. She stood, quiet, eyes still wide at the sight of Hancock and quietly nodded her head agreeing with them.

Hancock finished undressing to his briefs. He picked his clothes up and handed them to Danse. "I'll need her orange jumpsuit since that's what she's been wearing the most here lately."

Danse Shook his head when he looked at Hancock. "It's not going to fit you." Danse walked by kali and handed her Hancock's clothes as he walked to the hallway closet. He took a deep breath then opened the closet door and took his his BOS jumpsuit. He held it for a moment and stared at it, remembering all the missions he had accomplished while wearing it.

Danse turned and walked back to the front room and handed it to Hancock. "Don't tear it up, or I'm going to tear up that coat of yours and use it as polishing cloths for my power armor…You feel me."

Hancock laughed as he nodded his head. "Yeah, I do feel ya big guy."

Kali giggled as she walked with Hancock's clothes to the bedroom.

She put them on.

They were big on her but she kept them on anyways as she walked back to the front room. Hancock saw her and laughed out loud. "You look like a mini version of me." Hancock laughed again as he took his hat off and pushed his boots to her.

Kali put on the boots, the heels on them made her a few inches taller making her look more like Hancock.

Kali looked at her self in a mirror in Danse's front room and shook her head. "There is no way this is going to work."

Hancock walked over to her after he had put the BOS suit on half way and took the tri-corn hat from her hand and placed it on her head. "Now it will work, you just didn't put on the one thing that pulls it all together love." Kali looked back at the mirror and sure enough, in the dim light she could pass as a Hancock replica.

Hancock pointed out the window at the fading light. "It's the fact that your in my clothes and look enough like me is all that matters in that light."

Hancock finished getting the BOS jump suit on. He twirled around like a girl and looked at Danse with fluttering eyes "Do you like it Dansy?" He asked in a high pitch girly voice.

Kali burst out laughing. Her laughter making Danse and Hancock laugh also.

Hancock looked at Kali then at his self. "Something's missing. He looked at Kali again, then grinned. He looked around Danse's house and saw some rags piled on the kitchen counter.

Hancock walked over to the pile and kept his back turned to Danse and Kali.

When he turned to them Kali burst into laughter and had to grab hold of Danse to keep from falling. She was laughing so hard her eyes were tearing up.

Hancock had took the cloths and had stuffed them down the front of the BOS top and had formed them into boobs.

He ginned as he posed "I'm ready to be your girl Danse." He said in a girly tone of voice.

Kali just kept laughing. Danse glared daggers at Hancock, but Kali's laughter was the most wonderful thing he's heard in a long time. It was because of that reason alone, he didn't yell at Hancock to stop just so he could hear her laugh more.

Hancock got a serious look on his face. "All right we got to make this look real. Danse, your going to have to treat her like how you treat me when I barge in here drunk, then you got to pretend I'm her so everything looks normal."

Danse looked at Kali and shook his head. "I can't do that to her John."

Hancock placed his hand on Danse's shoulder. "Aww your such a sweet lover boy, but you got to toughen up for a moment so we can catch the son a bitch who want's to hurt her along with every other ghoul here, ya feel me."

Danse took a deep breath. "Yeah John I finally feel ya on this one."

Hancock stumbled back dramatically wide eyed. "Damn Danse, that's unexpected even for you, I'm touched."

Danse grinned. "What can I say? Kali is helping me become a new man." Danse took a deep breath and hugged Kali close. "I'm sorry Kali, but for this to work…."

Kali hugged him back, "I know Danse, you got to make this look real." Kali looked up at Danse, "Don't hold back Danse, make it look as real as possible."

Danse closed his eye's. He took a deep breath and let it out. "I'll make it up to you after this is over with."

Hancock groaned. "Come on you two, unless you really want this to be a three way? If not, then let's get this moving along."

Danse put his hands on Kali's shoulders and leaned down to kiss her. He kissed her strongly and deeply. Kali pulled into him and kissed him back.

Hancock raised his hand into the air and jumped up and down like a little kid. "Oh! Oh! me next! do me next!"

Kali burst into laughter and couldn't kiss Danse any more because she was laughing so hard again. Danse looked at Hancock and shook his head. "Damn you Hancock, I was trying to have a moment here."

Hancock smiled as he gestured to the door. "Let's just get this freak show going shall we."

Danse and kali nodded their heads as they looked at each other's eyes. Kali touched Danse's face. "I'm ready love."

Danse took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, He grabbed Kali by Hancock's coat and burst through the door dragging her gently. He threw her off the porch and tried not to cringe when he watched her hit the ground harder then he intended.

She looked up at Danse and whispered to him. "Fake hit me to make it look real."

Danse hesitated for a second then took another deep breath. "Don't ever let me catch you in here drunk again Hancock, or so help me I'll fucking kill you next time."

Danse leaned down and grabbed Kali by the front of Hancock's coat. He pulled back and threw his fist into her face. He held back at the last second only giving her a light tap on the eye he had already hit earlier that night on accident. Kali helped make it look real by dramatically tossing her head back like the hit had struck her hard.

Danse let her go and she dropped to the ground again. She flashed him a brief smile as she got up and acted like she was angry and stormed off as fast as she could to the guest house holding her head down to cover her face.

It was late in the evening and the light was almost gone. As Kali stormed away she really did look like Hancock, just a bit shorter. Danse thought as he watched her go.

"My turn lover boy" Hancock said behind Danse. Danse felt his face go red. He was unprepared to do what he knew needed to be done.

He turned to Hancock and saw he was posing seductively inside the house and was giving Danse a seductive look.

Danse shook his head as he faked a smile. "Your enjoying this way to fucking much Hancock."

Hancock grinned. He walked with long effeminate strides to Danse. He placed his hand the back of Danse's head. "Mmmm you may be right Dansy."

Danse cringed. "For fucks sake John! just get out there!" Danse hissed through his teeth as he continued to smile.

Hancock licked the side of Danse's face. He then grinned as he whispered into Danse's ear. "Anytime you want to try a little of me I'm ready."

Danse blushed bright red. Hancock laughed. "I'm just fucking with you big guy… Or am I?"

Hancock walked out of Danse's house and turned back to look at Danse like he was Kali. "Now kiss me like I'm your girl. "

Danse smiled a fake smile to put on a show and hugged Hancock like he was Kali. He then looked down at Hancock and kissed his forehead cringing. He whispered, "Don't ever mention this again Hancock, or so help me I will kill you slow and painful." He let Hancock go and just to fuck with Hancock he swatted his ass. Hancock turned and looked at Danse wide eyed and slightly shocked. Danse grinned. "Two can play this game." He turned away from Hancock and slammed his door shut locking it.

Hancock grinned. "Well fuck me, he does have a sense of humor."

Hancock stepped off the porch and tried to walk as much like Kali as he could.

((()))

Kali got to the guest house and saw a light was on. She walked inside and saw Billy was sitting on the floor. His knees were pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them as he rested his chin on his knees.

Kali heard him sniffle as he started to rock.

Kali walked over to him and took Hancock's coat off and placed it over his shoulders. Billy jumped and swung his fist around hitting Kali in her shin.

Kali flinched but said nothing about it hurting. Billy gasped when he saw Hancock's clothes and he looked up to Kali's face. "I'm sorry Hancock, you scared…. Your not Hancock, why are you wearing his clothes."

Kali shifted from foot to foot her leg throbbing where he hit her. She shrugged, "We switched clothes to catch the person who was spying on us."

Billy smiled for a moment then looked away as he sniffled again. And went back to rocking.

Kali sat on the floor next to him and pulled him to her. He burst into tears and started crying hard as he hugged Kali and cried onto the front of Hancock's coat.

Kali froze for a second then held him to her. She held him and rocked him.

"Their dead, they got to be dead by now." He cried out as he continued to cry.

Kali rubbed his back and spoke softly to him. "Who Billy?"

He shook as he took a breath. "My mom and dad, they were going to be experimented on. Non of the other ghouls ever came back after the experiments. I miss them. I just got my parents back and I've lost them again." He shook as he cried. Tears dropping from his face and onto Hancock's white shirt.

"I was locked in a fridge for two hundred years. It was thinking of them kept me from going crazy."

He started to calm down as he talked. Kali just listened and held him.

"When I saw them for the first time, after being rescued. I was happy again. I didn't think I would ever see them again."

He got quiet and sat still as he leaned onto Kali. Kali quietly started humming. She didn't know what the song was called but it came out sad and beautiful.

Kali stopped humming and hugged Billy tight. She tried to let him go, but he had a tight hold on her arm. Kali saw he had fallen asleep and was clinging to her tightly.

Kali sat their for awhile until the door opened. She motioned with her free hand to whoever it was to be quiet.

Kali saw it was Hancock and Danse. They looked at Kali and Billy. Danse smiled and Hancock quietly laughed.

Kali whispered to them. "Help me get him to the bed."

Danse picked Billy up easily and took him to the bedroom and laid him on the bed.

He brought Hancock's coat back and handed it back to Hancock.

Hancock winked at Kali. "Bit young for you don't you think.?"

Kali shook her head. "Not like that John, he was sad and I wanted to comfort him. Did you guys find the implant?" Kali asked as she stood up stretching her legs. They had fallen asleep and were tingling painfully as feeling came back in them.

Danse and Hancock frowned as they stared at the ground. "Yeah we figured out who it was."

Kali gave them a questioned look and shook her head, "Who it was? are they dead ?"

Hancock growled, "Yeah, they bit down on an arsenic tablet as soon as they knew they were caught."

Kali shook her head. "Who was it?"

Danse and Hancock looked at each other knowing how much time Kali spent working in the garden with June. Danse took a deep breath. He took a step to Kali and took her into his arms. "It was June love."

Kali felt her stomach drop. June was her friend. How could it be June. Kali hugged Danse and cried.

Danse held her until she stopped crying. "You ok Kali?" He asked.

Kali nodded her head and took a step back from him. "I'll be ok, she was nice, but if she really was the one spying on us, then I wonder if she was even truly my friend or was just pretending to be."

Kali shook her head and felt Hancock's hat slide down her face. Kali smiled and took Hancock's hat off and handed it back to him with a smile. "Here, it's too big."

Hancock laughed as he took it. "I'll get the rest in the morning, why don't you and Danse get some rest, everyone's heading out tomarrow afternoon."

Danse crossed his arms. "Remember, anything happen too that…"

Hancock nodded his head, "Yeah yeah, you'll rip my coat and use it for rags.. I t."

Kali and Danse walked out of the guest house back to Danse's house. As they walked Kali stared at the ground deep in thought. She didn't hear when Danse called her name and she walked into his hand that he put in front of her pulling her out of her thoughts.

Kali looked up at his face and blinked. "What's wrong?"

Danse had a concerned look on his face. "What are you thinking a about ?" He asked as they started walking again.

Kali took a deep breath. "Billy, He said his parents were probably dead."

Danse put his arm over her shoulder as they walked.

Kali continued talking. "He, well, if that's true then he has no one."

Danse stopped walking. Kali looked up at him. He smiled as he looked down at her. "You want to help him don't you Kali?"

Kali took a deep breath and nodded her head. "Yes, I ….want to be his adopted mother."

Dance pulled Kali into his arms. "Then tomorrow well talk to him and ask him if he would like to have us as his new parents."

Kali smiled widely. She started to cry and nodded. She stood on her toes and leaned up to Danse to kiss him. "I love you" she whispered.

Danse smiled back at her. "I love you he said back to her."

They walked the rest of the way quietly back to Danse's house.

When they got there Kali and Danse looked at each other.

Kali closed the front door and stood in the front room looking at Danse. She felt like her heart was going to explode with the love she felt for him.

Danse turned and saw how Kali was looking at him and smiled. "You do know we got a lot of traveling to do tomorrow. We really should get some rest tonight." He said as he took off his boots.

Kali took a deep breath and tried to calm her self as she nodded her head. "Yeah I know." Kali shook her head as she took off Hancock's boots.

Kali fallowed Danse into the bedroom. She started to unbutton Hancock's shirt when she looked up and saw Danse pulling the Mechanic jumpsuit from his shoulders revealing his chest. Kali let out a low growl of desire as her body ached for him. She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes and took a deep breath and let it out.

Danse heard her low growl then looked up to see her with her eyes closed and shirt open giving him a full view of her chest and stomach and grinned knowing he was turning her on.

His grin turned into a smile as he watched her try to calm her self. "Well, I guess we could play….."

Kali opened her eyes and took the shirt off as fast as she could. She got the pants off ran and jumped onto the bed giggling.

Danse laughed as he watched her. "Full of energy are we?" He asked as he took the Mechanic coverall off slowly the rest of the way as he saw her watching him.

Kali shrugged her shoulders and blushed. "I'm sorry Danse, I just…well I don't know how to explain it, but when I think about you I get a feeling in my chest and it energizes me."

Danse climbed into the bed and laid next to her. "Try." He said as he pulled her closer to him.

Kali snuggled into Danse. "It's like… my heart want's to explode and I feel like the world is spinning out of control, then when I do look at you it does explode and I feel it radiate through my entire body and…"

Danse kissed her. Kali's eyes went wide at first then she closed them slightly and kissed him back.

She took her hand and ran it across his chest feeling his muscles and his heart beat as she kissed him deeper.

Kali felt his toung in her mouth and Kali took at him surprised. She pulled back and looked at him breathless. Smiled and kissed him again.

(((())))

Kali and Danse were both drenched in sweat as they held each other, they both smiled as they looked in each others eyes. She watched him when he had moved off her and laid next to her and she held him tight.

Kali laid her head on his chest and fell asleep listening to his fast beating heart slow as he fell asleep.

When Kali opened her eyes she saw it was morning and Danse was next to her holding her close to him as he slept. Kali placed her hand on his face and ran it through his hair.

Kali couldn't remember having hair of her own, but yet she somehow missed it.

Kali quietly pulled her self from Danse's arms and got out of the bed gently to not wake him. She walked quietly to the bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror for the first time since she broke the last one she saw herself in.

Kali looked at her scarred and calloused skin. She touched her face and felt the scars gently with her finger tips. The scars were soft on the surface and felt twisted under the skin .

She then traced her finger along the odd scar on the side of her head where the bullet Danse had shot grazed her. It was pink and angry against her now tannish skin.

Her head by now had burned and healed from all the sunburns working in the garden. She was now tan and didn't burn as much as she did when her skin was pale.

Kali leaned closer to the mirror and blinked her eyes. She gasped when her image changed. She saw her skin was smooth and her hair was a light strawberry blond that was long and beautiful. Her eyes were duller, but normal. Kali saw she had a fullness to her face.

Kali reached her hand up to touch her cheek and saw her hand was smooth also as she ran her fingertips across her skin. It all felt smooth like Dans's skin. The mirror cracked suddenly.

Kali blinked.

The room erupted into flames and the mirror exploded and shards of glass went into her face. Kali screamed and put her hands up to protect her eyes.

Kali felt her self being shaken. "Kali! Wake up ...Kali!"

Kali opened her eyes and saw she was laying in bed with Danse and was covered in sweat.

There was sunlight pouring in through the windows and Kali was breathing hard. She had tears in her eyes and her heart was racing.

She looked at Danse. "Sorry, I … God it was horrible."

Kali started to cry remembering the pain and terror she felt. She buried her face into his chest.

Danse held her and stroked her bald head like she had hair. "It's all right, your safe now, shh don't do that, no need to cry." Danse wasn't sure of what to exactly say. He was trying to tell her everything he remembered hearing a mother say to comfort a child.

Kali took a deep shaky breath. "I'm ok now, it was just a bad dream"

Danse held her and wiped the tears off her face. "What was your dream about?"

Kali looked at Danse and closed her eyes. "I had woke up and you were still sleeping. I snuck off to the bathroom and looked into the mirror. Suddenly the mirror exploded and the glass shards cut up my face, the room was in flames and I could feel my skin burning…"

Danse kissed Kali. "You won't have to worry about any of that, I'll protect you. If you want, I'll get rid of the bathroom mirror."

Kali smiled, "No you don't have to do that, it was a one time dream."

Kali and Danse held each other and leaned in for a kiss. Suddenly there was pounding at the door. "Hey, I came to get my clothes, better not be screwing around while wearing my shit!" Hancock's voice yelled from the front door.

Danse shook his head. "How does he always know just the right time to screw up a moment?"

Kali and Danse got dressed in there orange and Blue coveralls. They both left the bedroom to greet Hancock at the door.

Danse opened the door and Hancock was standing there hand up ready to knock again. "Well, its about damn time, it's nearly noon and some of us were wondering if you two were dead or not."

Hancock walked in still wearing the BOS coverall with his hat and coat on over it.

Kali smiled as she handed the rest of his clothes back to him. Hancock took them and nodded his head in a silent thank you at her. Then he walked down the hallway and went to the bathroom to change.

Danse stood there and let out a frustrated sigh. "Go ahead come on in john, make yourself at home."

Hancock laughed loudly from the bathroom.

Kali saw Danse get a duffle bag and start to fill it with his guns and gun cleaners. He packed some clothes and some MRE packs.

He went to a tool box and opened a small drawer. He pulled out the note that Kali had left him when he first talked to her. He read it again and smiled. He tucked the note back in the tool box drawer. He pulled out what looked like a shiny silver neckless.

Danse turned to Kali and smiled. "These were my Halotags from when I was in the BOS. I want you to have them, they mean a lot to me and well so do you."

Kali watched as he placed the neckless over her head and let the Halotags rest on her chest.

Kali looked at them and saw his name was on them with his birthdate and blood type.

Kali smiled and hugged him. "Thank you Danse!" Kali said as she held him tight.

He hugged her back and started to kiss her.

Hancock burst through the bathroom door and let out a satisfied ahhh as he adjusted his pants and put his hat on his head.

He looked at Danse and Kali. "What do you think? Refined king of the Zombies?" he asked as he posed in a captains stance.

Danse looked at him and flatly answered. "More like prince of the fools if you really want to know."

Hancock laughed. "Good to see your finally getting a sense of humor Danse."

Danse looked at Hancock like he was confused. "I wasn't joking, you really do look like a price of fools."

Hancock just shook his head. "You two ready? The caravan's been ready to leave for about an hour now. Nora and Nick already left with Dog meat, Duncan and Shawn to make sure the way is clear."

Danse rushed to his power armor and climbed into it. "Why didn't anyone come and get us sooner?" he asked as he slung his bag up to his shoulders.

Hancock laughed. "After hearing the sounds that came from this house last night? Everyone was afraid to mess with your door."

Danse put the power armor helmet on and looked at Hancock, "Except you."

Danse looked at Kali. "You ready Kali?"

Kali nodded. "Yeah, I don't have anything so not much for me to pack." Hancock put his hand up. "Oh hold on a moment, we found a bunch of bottle caps in that bag of yours, here we all pitched in to get you a new bag."

Hancock handed her a black small bag that held a lot of bottle caps. Kali looked at Hancock odd. "Thanks?"

Hancock gave her and odd look. "You don't know what the bottle caps are used for do you? Hold on to those caps tight. We don't use paper money to buy things anymore, we use bottle caps."

Kali nodded her head acting like she understood him.

Hancock motioned to the both of them. "All right fuckers, lets go."

Kalie followed Danse and Hancock out of the house. She fallowed Danse until he stopped and turned to Kali. "I'll be in front of the caravan as first defense."

Kali smiled and nodded. "I'll be there with you watching your back."

Danse shook his head and stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "No, you'll be in the middle of the caravan with the other women and children, safe where you should be."

Kali gave Danse an odd look. "No! I want to be with you Danse, on the front line! I'm not weak and defenseless, I don't need to be protected." Kali felt her anger flair.

Danse took a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh, he still had the mentality of a high rank Paladin and was not used to having his orders directly refused. "Kali. You are going to stay with the woman and children so I know you are safe and I can focus on my duties. If you were on the front line with me I would only protect you and no one ells, that's why romance was discouraged among the men and women in the brotherhood."

Kali felt her anger snap. "I'm not going to go and be with the woman and children! I know how to fight! I killed that Radscorpion Danse, I can be a big help with you."

Danse looked at her and spoke in a dry voice as he shook his head. "Yeah, it also killed you too."

Kali put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, and I killed it with it's own tail!"

Danse snorted. "Yeah, and you died after that!" He yelled at her. Danse shook his head when he saw tears threaten to fall from her eyes. He took a deep breath and spoke in a softer, but firm voice. "I said no Kali and that is final. You are going to stay with the women and children in the middle."

Kali shook her head in anger. "Fine! I'll go with the fucking woman and Damn children!" Kali stormed away from Danse. His hand dropping from her shoulder as she shrugged it off.

Hancock shook his head as he watched Kali storm off. "Man, you are going to have some serious sucking up and apologizing to do after that."

Danse glared at Hancock. "Why? I just want her to be safe! I don't know why she's got to act so childish about that!"

Hancock crossed his arms. "You know, you should have just told her you needed her to protect the middle with the women and children."

Danse gave Hancock an odd look. "Why would I have told her that?"

Hancock laughed. "You have got to be fucking kidding me, you have to make her feel special and needed. Not protected and stored away like she's week and helpless. She's your lover Danse, not your subordinate."

Danse stood there speechless. He didn't think of it like that. "I screwed that up didn't I?" Danse said as they started walking again.

"Yeah big guy you really did, Don't worry, something I've learned about women is they tend to forgive, but they don't forget. You could be just eating dinner and think everything is fine until you look up at her. She will be glaring daggers at you. Then your busting your nuts tryn to figure out what the hell it was you did that day to piss her off. Then you just play it cool and give her a grin, maybe she just has an upset stomach or some shit. Nope, come to find out she's pissed off about that damn dress you accidently spilled wine on a week ago."

Danse stopped walking and stared at Hancock. "Umm, sounds like you know this from experience?"

Hancock nodded his head yes. "Just don't piss her off and you'll have a great relationship with her."

Danse pulled some thing out of a pack on his side. He opened his power armored hand and showed what he was holding to Hancock. "I plan on proposing to her when we get to Diamond city."

Hancock looked at what was in Danse's hand and saw he was showing him two hose clamps. "What the hell are those for?"

Danse shrugged his shoulders in the power armor. "I don't have any rings yet, I'll trade some of my guns at Diamond city for a ring for her, but until then I'm going to use these to purpose to her."

Hancock stopped Danse. "You cant use those! Their not even romantic or anything, hell their not even proper rings at that!"

Danse grumbled as he put them back away. "I got to use something, I'm in love with her and I want her to know it."

Hancock laughed. "She already knows you love her man…but if it means so much to you…" Hancock took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, I guess it's time for me to let them go."

Hancock reached under his shirt and pulled up on a chain with two silver rings dangling on the end. "These were our wedding rings."

Danse paused and looked at Hancock. "I didn't know you were married?"

Hancock took the chain off and held the rings in his hands and moved them around in his hand as he spoke. "I was married to her before I became a ghoul. It happened in Diamond city before my brother became mayor. I grew up with her, we were friends since childhood. We figured it was just time to finally tie the knot and get married."

Danse didn't know what to do. He just stood there and listened.

"We had friends that were ghouls and we all lived in Diamond city together. Then my brother became Mayor and said all the ghouls had to go. By then she was nine months pregnant, and at that time the only town doctor had been a ghoul. So when she went into labor we had to head out of town to have the baby."

Hancock closed his hand around the rings and held them tight. "I was able to save our daughter, but I lost my wife."

Danse shook his head. "I'm sorry john."

Hancock opened his hand and smiled at the rings. "I fled to GoodNeighbor afterword's, Daisy and Cle-O helped me raise ferinhight. I tried to forget my wife, the pain of loosing her… I took to chems and crime to try and forget it all. Then that whole thing with Vic and his goons happened, well I had enough. I had tried to end it all n taking every chem I could get my hands on and drinking every bottle of alcohol I could find to give this fucked up life one last party. One of the chems turned me into a fucking ghoul. When I woke up I was surprised to be alive. I looked up and saw this getup, holding my wedding rings. I figured it was time to be a better man. I had a daughter that needed a father and I had decided to help others at that point. Because it apparently was not my time to die. So, we took back GoodNeighbor and made it a better place to live for the rejects of the commonwealth to survive in." Hancock held the rings in his hand for a moment longer then held them out to Danse. "Here, take these and marry Kali. It's time I put the past away and start looking to the future anyway."

Danse was shocked. He gently took the rings and just looked at them. "Thanks John, but why? Why are you being so nice to me? I've been nothing but a horrible asshole to you."

Hancock laughed. "It's because I know under all that asshole façade you have built around your self, your just a nice guy wanting to do the right thing. That's why I keep fucking with you, to help you loose the asshole." Hancock nodded at Danse and walked away.

Danse looked at the silver wedding bands in his hand and shook his head.

((((()))))

Kali headed for the middle of the caravan and climbed aboard the cart that the other woman and children were sitting in. She saw Billy sitting by Daisy. She was holding a sleeping Joy in her arms. Billy was looking at her with a smile on his face.

Kali walked over and sat with them. Billy looked at Kali and smiled. "She's so tiny, it's hard to believe someone so tiny is going to get so big."

Daisy smiled as she rocked Joy in her arms. "It's the power of life kid."

Daisy looked at Kali and saw she was a little upset.

"Everything ok dear?"

Kali took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "Yeah it's ok Daisy, I just don't understand why men feel like they got to be the strong ones all the time!"

Daisy smiled. "Ahh I see child, Danse wouldn't let you be up front with him right?"

Kali looked at Daisy. "How did you know?"

"Well dear, it's etched on your face and I kind of herd you two yelling, I think we all heard you guys yelling."

Kali hid her face with her hands and moaned. "Oh God, how embarrassing."

Daisy laughed. Suddenly the caravan started moving as Kali heard someone yell out that it was time to head out.

Daisy patted Kali on the leg. "Danse, He just loves you dear and want's you protected."

Kali shook her head. "I don't want to be safe and protected. He's risking his life to keep everyone safe. Who's keeping him safe and protected?"

Kali sighed. She then looked at Billy and smiled. "How are you Billy?" Kali asked him.

Billy shrugged his shoulders. "Better then yesterday, but ok I guess."

Kali reached over and took his hand. "Danse and I talked on our way back home, we were wanting to start a place for lost children."

Billy's eyes went wide when he realized what kali was trying to tell him. "You mean…"

Kali smiled. "Danse and I would be happy to take you in to be our first kid Billy."

Daisy smiled and sniffled. "Sorry, I don't mean to cry, but that's really nice of you and Danse to take him in."

Kali looked at Billy and saw he was truly smiling for the first time she's seen him. Kali squeezed his hand and let it go.

Kali looked at everything around her as it passed by. When they passed the red rocket Kali looked at it odd. "Why is it tore up like that?" she asked.

Daisy looked at Kali and then nodded her head. "I forget you've lost your memories, It's destroyed from the bombs."

Kali looked around again. "What bombs?"

Daisy took a deep breath. "The bombs fell over two hundred years ago. I was outside when it happened that's why it effected me differently from everyone."

Kali looked at her self and pointed at her skin. "Is that what happened to me?"

Daisy shook her head. "No, you're a new born ghoul. I don't know fully what happened to you, but you were exposed to a lot of radiation from what I do know."

Kali and daisy kept talking. Daisy told Kali about life before the bombs, the crazy animals that were mutated because of the bombs. Then she started explaining about all the different types of ghouls.

Daisy shook her head. "The worst ghouls we have to watch out for is the glowing ones."

Kali looked at her odd. "The glowing ones?"

Daisy nodded. "They are ghouls who have absorbed so much radiation they have become in essence, radioactive bodies of pure energy. No glowing ghoul keeps there sanity. They can control non-feral ghouls telepathically. You need to keep in mind that all glowing ghouls are feral, but insanely smart feral. They like to get next to others and let off bursts of radiation. Won't bother you at first until you absorb to much and become insane and feral your self. To a smooth skin it is almost always instant death."

Kali shook her head. "How would I know I've absorbed too much radiation?"

Daisy shook her head. "Don't know dear, I've never had to deal with it. But I know it feels good to bathe in the glow of a rad storm, but that's the extent of the radiation I allow my self to be around. It gets trickier when you get near places with higher amounts of radiation."

Kali remembered how wonderful it felt to have radiation flow through her veins and smiled. "So I have to be careful about how much I absorb, got it."

Kali fell quiet and went back then looking around and saw everything was tore up and destroyed. This was all felt fake and wrong. Kali started to wonder if maybe Nora and Nick really were telling her the truth about what year it was. That she really was over 300years old. "Daisy, what year is it?"

Daisy told Kali what year it was and looked at Kali odd. "Why?"

Kali took a deep breath. Daisy wouldn't lie to her. Kali truly was over three hundred somehow. "Nothing, was just wondering, thank you daisy."

Kali turned away from daisy and watched the scenery slowly flow by. She got lost in her thoughts and drifted off to sleep. Kali's head dropped and she dozed off.

Kali was awoken a few hours later by screaming and chaos. The cart she was in came to an abrupt stop.

Kali looked around and saw Hancock and RJ rush past the cart to the front of the caravan. People were running from the front to the back screaming.

Kali quickly stood up to look over the top of everyone and about fainted at what she saw.

There was three large reptilian creatures fighting Danse. He was fighting them alone and they were picking him up and throwing him to the ground.

Kali heard daisy gasp behind her. "Oh, God, those are Deathclaws!" Kali felt Daisy grab her hand and try to pull her down from the cart. Kali turned and saw Daisy was holding Joy in her other hand and had a terrified look on her face. "We need to run! If it was just one it wouldn't be so bad, but with three...we need to get to safety now!" Kali looked back and saw RJ And Hancock were now each squaring off with a Deathclaw. They were shooting at there faces and were ducking the massive clawed hands.

Kali then saw Danse on the ground. She felt her heart skip a beat. He got up and she took a breath of relief.

"Kali come on we need to go!" Kali tuned to Daisy and started to follow her when she heard Danse yell out in pain all the way to where she was standing and felt a chill go up her back.

Kali turned and saw Danse was back on the ground again. The biggest Deathclaw had him under it's foot. Kali could see Danse flailing his power armored arms trying to get the giant creature off his chest.

Hancock was in the clawed hand of the other one. He was missing his hat and Kali could see the side of his face was covered in blood.

RJ was lying face down on the ground. The third Deathclaw was running to the one holding Hancock.

Kali shook her hand from Daisy and took off running to Danse and Hancock. She heard daisy yelling for her to come back, but kali ignored her.

Kali was terrified and didn't know what she was going to do. She kept her eyes on the Deathclaw on top of Danse. She quickly looked around for a weapon and saw a large rock at her feet.

Kali picked it up and held it in her hand.

Kali pulled her arm back to throw it at the Deathclaw when she heard a crunch of metal and saw Danse suddenly stop moving. His arms fell limp to his sides and he went still and motionless.

Kali felt like the world went into sudden slow motion. She felt her fear and terror shift into full blown anger and the world turned a shade of red as she lunged forward.

Kali held the rock tighter and ran hard and fast at the large Deathclaw that was on top of Danse. She pulled her arm back as she got closer and aimed the rock for the Deathclaws face.

Kali punched the Deathclaw full force in its face and heard it's face plates crunch as it yelled in surprise and pain. Kali felt her hand break but she didn't care.

She pulled her arm back again and aimed it at the Deathclaw. "Go Away!"

Kali yelled loudly with as much authority she could get into her voice.

The Deathclaw looked at her and shook its head whining, then it snorted. It stepped off of Danse and stood their staring at Kali.

The other two Deathclaws stopped moving and turned to Kali also.

Kali pointed away from the caravan and yelled at the Deathclaws. "GO AWAY! LEAVE US ALONE!"

The Deathclaws snorted in anger, but they turned and walked in the direction Kali had pointed.

She dropped the bloody rock she was holding when they were far enough away.

Kali quickly knelt down to Danse and undid the snaps that held his helmet in place with her good hand.

She pulled the helmet off and cried out when she saw his face. Danse was motionless and blood was coming out of his mouth and nose.

Kali scrambled to try and pry his power armor off but it was securely closed around him, her broken hand was leaving bloody hand prints on his armor.

Kali picked up the rock and tried to use it to pound the armor off her broken hand getting injured worse, but she didn't notice or care.

She saw the chest piece of the armor was caved in on his chest and screamed in fear. It was caved in on his chest keeping him from breathing and had stopped his heart.

"No no no, DANSE!" Kali was crying and screaming and was desperately trying to pull the chest plate off. Strong hands suddenly pulled her away and held her back. She watched helpless, she could barely hear Hancock's voice as he tried to calm her down. Kali fought him and he let her go as she fell to the ground screaming. Hancock and RJ rushed to Danse and rolled him over. They undid the emergency release and Danse fell out of the power armor and laid on the ground not moving.

Kali let out another scream and rushed to him. She tried to feel for a pulse but didn't find one.

Hancock placed his hand on her back. "I'm sorry...but he's …he's… dead kali…"

Kali turned to looked at Hancock and growled menacingly at him. She felt something in her mind snap at the sight and realization of Danse being dead. Kali narrowed her eyes at Hancock then hissed at him with a sudden wild look on her face. He stumbled back and reached for his gun. The sight of the gun snapped her out of it.

Kali blinked then acted like nothing happened when she turned back to Danse. Kali didn't know what she was doing, but she felt her self get on her knees and position her self next to Danse. She knelt down and pinched his nose breathing air into his body. She tasted his blood but didn't stop or retch.

She laced her fingers together and thrust into his chest pushing thirty times then giving him another breath.

She felt Hancock and RJ grab her arms and they tried to pull her away. "Leave me ALONE!" Kali snapped at them as she continued to thrust on his chest.

She felt their hands hold her tighter and pull her with more force. She yelled out in agony as she felt her heart break into pieces and struck out at Hancock and RJ as they dragged her away from Danse's lifeless body. "LEAVE ME ALO…!"

Danse suddenly gasped and took a long breath as his eyes blinked open. Kali yanked her self from Hancock and RJ and rushed back to Danse.

She got behind Danse's head and sat him up a little. She kissed his forehead as his breathing became regular and he started to look around more. "Kali…I'll be ok..." he whispered then coughed.

Kali burst into tears. She sat him up as she sat behind him to support him. She wrapped her arms around him and just cried as he reached up and held her arms. He pulled her around and held Kali into his arms as she shook crying.

She finally spoke. "You died Danse, you died and I couldn't imagine living with out you." Danse pulled her close and rocked her.

Hancock and RJ knelt down and gave Danse a few Stimpacks.

Danse looked at them and saw their faces were grim and somber.

Danse held onto Kali as she shook crying and looked around. He saw his power armor was damaged beyond repair. He could probably salvage some pieces but the rest was nothing but scrap now.

He felt Kali suddenly limp into his arms. He looked up and saw Hancock quietly pulling a syringe from the back of her arm.

Danse shook his head. "Why did you do that?"

Hancock shook his head. "She needs to rest, She… went feral Danse. When she saw you were dead she lost it and went completely feral for a moment."

Danse held her and rocked her.

Hancock knelt down and placed his hand on Danse's shoulder. "Danse...once a ghoul hits feral they don't normally come back the same. She was full blown feral for a moment. It may have only been for a moment, but it was probably enough to start her changes. Just keep and eye on her, let her rest." Hancock helped Danse stand up.

Danse looked around. "Where are the Deathclaws?"

RJ was kneeling with Kali and Looked up at Danse. "Kali told them to go away."

Danse shook his head. "I must have hit my head really hard, I thought I heard you say Kali told them to go away."

Hancock grinned. "He did."

Danse looked at RJ then at Hancock. "What!"

Hancock nodded at Kali. "She ran up to the Alpha Female and smashed it's face in with a rock, she then commanded it to go away. The crazy part, is the fact it listened to her and walked away with the other two following."

RJ shook his head. "I've heard of Deathclaw whisperers, but I've never met one before."

Danse knelt down to pick up Kali and stumbled nearly falling. Hancock steadied him. "We'll get her, let's get you two settled into a spot to rest while we regroup everyone."

Hancock and RJ helped move Danse and Kali to the wagon that Kali had road in. Danse sat with his back against the wagon wall and held Kali in his lap.

He sat there thinking about everything that had just happened. He started to doze off when Kali opened her eyes. She sat up suddenly and looked around. Danse placed his hand on her shoulder and she jumped and looked at him.

"Danse!"

Kali leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to argue with you. I don't ever want my last memory of you being of us fighting."

Danse held her and rocked her. "I'm ok now, thanks to you, from what I was told."

Kali sniffled and held tight.

Danse looked down at her and knew he wanted her right here in his arms until he could no longer function.

He held on tight and kissed her forehead. "Kali, I love you."

Kali rested her head on his chest and could hear his heart beating fast. She felt her eyes get heavy again as the lingering effects of what Hancock gave her was taking effect again. She tried to tell Danse she loved him but had fell asleep before she could.

Danse pulled out the rings Hancock gave him and he knew what he was going to ask her when she woke back up. He felt the cart move as a tired Daisy climbed in and sat across from Danse holding a sleeping Joy.

Daisy smiled at Danse as he closed his eyes as the caravan moved on to it's next destination.


	10. Returning shift

(I'm back! been a while since I've released a chapter. I'm sorry this is a short chapter, but I hope to keep making the chapters longer after this. I will be adding more. I have already got done reediting the first nine chapters and cant wait to get back in the swing of things. Its going to be slow and I don't have my source material anymore since it was all burned in a house fire last month in march. Family made it out but we lost two dogs. Enough blabbering and on to the story!)

Kali woke up laying on a sleeping bag in what looked like a parking garage. There were cars all around her. Kali quickly sat up and looked around for Danse. "Danse?" She whispered quietly not sure of what had happened since she fell asleep. Kali looked around and listened to the dead quietness. "Danse?" she whispered louder, but silence was her only response.

(Hello, your awake. Good)

Kali jumped at the sound of the voice and stood up as fast as she could. The voice was loud enough that whoever spoke had to be standing next to her. Kali looked for the source of the voice but only saw empty sleeping bags and… she noticed all the cars were in perfect condition. The parking garage looked as if it had just been built. Kali rubbed her eyes, maybe it was a trick of the light. She took a few steps towards a car with red paint then heard the voice again.

(Yes, follow my voice, come to me, I want to see you…Kaliene)

Kali recognized the voice. It was the same one she heard back when she had been stung by the Radscorpion but it was louder now.

Kali looked around as she followed the Voice. She walked between cars and down the ramp, but no one was in sight. She worried about Danse and where he might be.

(He's ok. Ill take you to him just come to me Kaliene)

Kali saw some cars parked in the lower parking spots that were odd and unfamiliar. She didn't recognize them. Maybe they were some new kind of smart cars. Kali made her way out of the parking garage and to a door with an exit sign lit up above it.

When Kali walked through she had to blink with the sun light being so bright. She looked around and saw she was by a large building with a neon Hospital sign glowing above it. Cars were driving up and down the streets and people were walking on the sidewalks. The women were wearing pastel colored dress suits and the men were all wearing dark business suits.

(Ignore them and come to me, you can feel me Kali, I know you can)

Kali looked down at the ground and closed her eyes. She was surprised that she could sense a strong presence in one direction and followed it. As she walked everyone ignored her. No one looked at her or spoke to her. Kali looked at all the buildings and saw people moving about inside of them living there day to day lives.

(This is how it was before the bombs fell, I was the CEO of a business that built apartments.)

Kali saw some kids laughing as they chased a can kicking it down the sidewalk. She smiled at a woman pushing a baby in a bright red carriage with a cooing baby in it.

(I was visiting when the bombs fell, the bomb shelters that I cut corners on worked good enough to keep some of us alive…)

Kali came to a set of what looked like apartments and felt the presence was in them.

(but it didn't keep the radiation out.)

Kali noticed the closer she got the more people looked at her and started to notice her. Kali stopped to look at a woman with beautiful black hair and sad sapphire blue eyes. The woman turned from Kali and walked away. Kali looked ahead and saw a man wearing a detailed dark blue suit was sitting on a park bench. He was motioning for kali to come.

(We all turned into ghouls, some lost there minds, others died. My mind was enhanced and I saw potential to survive and become strong.)

Kali walked over to him, he reached his hand out and looked up at Kali with a smile.

"My name is Andrew, glad to finally meet you. I felt your presence when you came to be one of us a while back." His Voice was smooth and had a pleasant almost British accent.

Kali shook his hand and looked at him with all kinds of questions burning through her mind. "Felt my presence?"

He nodded as he motioned for Kali to sit. "Yes, when you awoke as a ghoul I could feel you, I knew right away you were going to be a special ghoul and I wanted you in my collection right away."

Kali tilted her head and took a step back. "Collection?"

He laughed and nodded. "I collect other ghouls and keep them here with me to feed off their energy, and you Kali have some energy unlike any I have ever felt before. Your going to be a very strong and powerful ghoul, well at least you were."

Kali shook her head. She turned to run but saw she was facing Andrew again. "What! HOW?!" Kali cried out as she tried to run in another direction only to be blocked by Andrew.

"You're here with me now, No more Danse, No more anything, which is kind of sad really. You were going to be the one who got to choose the fate of the common wealth…No, I take it back, the whole world for that matter. I could see your future and," he laughed a wicked laugh "Your future was going to be very bright." He reached out and placed his hand on Kali's forehead. She felt suddenly drained and week.

Andrew smiled and pulled his hand back. "You were blessed twice, so very rare. Don't worry Kaliene ill let you live with a little energy, someone as rare as you must be treasured. Your energy tastes exquisite." Andrew closed his eyes and smiled.

Kali was panicking, not caring what Andrew had to say. She couldn't bare the thought of having Danse taken from her. "Please, just let me go" she begged as he stood there smiling at her.

"Let you go? Oh No, I don't think so. Your apart of my collection now…" Andrew blinked and his face changed to a confused look as he turned suddenly and looked at the empty space behind him. "No, it cant be…" Andrews voice sounded angry and terrified. The world Kali was in shifted for a brief moment. She saw Andrew for who he really was and screamed in pure terror.

He was a disfigured ghoul, but was glowing bright and had skin bulging out all over his body. His hair was wispy white and was only in a small patches on his head. His teeth were jagged and missing in some places and his bottom jaw was missing. She saw in that brief glimmer she was standing on a piece of wood in a pool of green glowing sludge. With a shiver she realized the people that were walking about was other ghouls and each one was just as terrifying as the last.

Kali blinked and she was back in the park. Andrew and the other people…no ghouls, were back to normal. Kali looked at Andrew with terror and saw he was glaring at something behind her. "She's MINE!" She heard him scream. Suddenly his head exploded and everything disappeared. She felt her head throb with pain like it was her head that had just exploded.

Kali was shaking when she looked around saw the other ghouls shrieking and falling to there knees. She watched as the glowing ghoul that had called its self Andrew slump to the ground in a heep, its head gone and glowing blood was oozing from it. Kali stared at it confused and scared.

"Kali?"

Kali turned to the familiar voice and looked at Hancock. He moved slow as he looked at her in the eyes and held his hand out to her.

Kali blinked and shook her head. "What just happened?"

Hancock smiled and relaxed at the sound of her voice. He spoke softly and quietly as he put his gun away. "You were lured here by a glowing ghoul. When we couldn't find you. I had a feeling you were lured to this place. Lets get you out of here and back to Danse, he's kind of going nuts knowing he cant get down here to help you."

Kali shook her head as she looked around. She looked down at the green glowing water and the destroyed buildings around her. She then saw Danse was standing at the edge waving at her to come to him. "Why cant he come down here?" Kali asked Hancock.

Hancock motioned at the ghouls around them. "These are feral ghouls, they would try to rip him to shreds, and this water is full of radiation. That's why you need to get moving and try not to touch any more of it, Or you'll end up like him." Hancock pointed at the headless glowing ghoul.

Hancock was right, Kali could feel herself become intoxicated by the overwhelming feeling of pure energy the water was giving off. She walked by a few feral ghouls and saw they paid no attention to her. "What's wrong with them?"

Hancock looked at one and shook his head. "They are gone, brains rotted beyond saving, some were turned into ferals by that glowing ghoul. They are alive, but the brain is mostly dead. They survive purely on instinct anymore… you better get going ill follow you out in a moment I just need to see something."

Kali walked slowly and carefully in the direction that led her to Danse.

((()))

Hancock watched Kali leave then he looked at a black haired feral ghoul and sighed. "Nicky, it's been awhile love, you should see our daughter, she's grown into quite the woman. I'm sorry I couldn't save you back then, but its time we both moved on and…" Hancock looked at the ghoul and shook his head with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry love, I should have done this long ago to end both of our suffering." Hancock pointed his shotgun and pulled the trigger.

((()))

Kali jumped and looked back at Hancock and saw he was on his knees holding a ghoul. She could hear him as he cried out. Danse pulled Kali close and pulled her away as he picked her up. He carried her away and sat her down next to a car. "Kali… I…" Danse had tears in his eyes as he looked her over to see if she was hurt. "Don't ever disappear on me like that again!" He nearly yelled at her as he helped her stand up.

Kali nodded her head and looked down at her feet her legs were shaking. "I'm sorry Danse, I didn't even know I had wondered away from you…A voice was calling me and I thought something had happened to you when I couldn't find you." Kali was crying as she leaned onto Danse. Whatever Andrew did to her left her week and emotional.

Danse sighed and looked down at the top of her bald head. "I was laying right next to you..." They heard footsteps approach and they both saw it was Hancock with his hands on his gun looking around. "Not a good place to have a reunion, lets get back to the parking garage and you two can continue your chat there." Hancock had tear spots on his coat and his voice was cracking. "An I'm out of jet and I need a hit now more then ever!"

Danse helped steady Kali on her feet. She turned and tried to smile at Hancock. "Lead the way."

Kali fallowed Hancock with Danse following close behind her. Kali was amazed at all the destruction around her. She recognized buildings that were alive to her just hours ago. She looked at the spot where she had seen the kids and saw only rubble and blown up cars. Kali gasped when she saw a destroyed red baby carriage.

Kali followed Hancock closely as they quietly made it through an ally way and saw a woman standing in there way. She was mostly bald and had crude leather armor barely covering her body. She laughed and aimed a gun at Hancock.

"Well, if it isn't Mayor fucking Hancock!"

Kali heard more laughing as more leather clad people came out of the darkness and surrounded them. A man stood next to the woman and grabbed her ass as he kissed her before turning to face Hancock.

"Kill the two men and bring me the ghoul bitch…I've been needing a new toy to replace the last one we destroyed!" He laughed as Kali glared at him and took a few steps back bumping into Danse.


	11. Lost and found

Danse had awoke when they reached the Kendal hospital. Years ago, Nora cleared out some raiders and had to put down a Deathclaw they were feeding travelers too. Now its became a popular place for merchants to set up and has turned into a new out post and resting spot for traveling caravans and travelers. Danse looked down at kali sleeping peacefully on his chest and gently shook her trying to wake her up.

Kali mumbled but didn't wake up. Danse frowned then kissed her forehead as he laid her on the makeshift bed he made with some sleeping bags. He left her with Daisy sitting close and looked for Hancock.

Danse found Hancock sitting at a fire stirring a big pot of something that might have been food. "JOHN!" he yelled as he approached the ghoul. Hancock looked up at Danse and took a deep breath. "Yes Danse?" he said in a casual tone of voice.

Danse stood next to Hancock and pointed in Kali's direction. "What did you do to her! She hasn't woke up since you injected her hours ago!"

Hancock put down the spoon he was stirring with and looked up at Danse. "Good. Let's hope she sleeps all the way to Diamond city. Cambridge crater is nearby and its best you go back to her and keep a close eye on her." Hancock looked back at the pot and glared at what was in the pot.

Danse shook his head and balled his fist. "You drugged her like that on purpose? Why? What is so horrible about Cambridge crater?"

MacCready was sitting on the other side of the fire when he looked up at Hancock and Danse. "John, isn't that where you said you lost your wife?"

Danse immediately glanced at Hancock and he stepped back letting his hands relax. Hancock had went back to stirring and paused as he looked down into the pot of grey sludge. He pulled out a jet inhaler and took a longer drag off it then normal. He finally nodded his head after a moment. "Yeah, that's where I lost Nicole."

Danse slowly moved to a log by the fire, sat down and stared at Hancock.

Hancock looked up at Danse and rolled his eyes. "Leme fucking guess, you want to know what happened?"

Danse nodded his head and waited.

Hancock inhaled the rest of the jet that was in the inhaler and threw the empty vile into the fire. It sizzled then popped. "Nicole was beautiful, she had long dark hair, blue eyes and an attitude you wouldn't believe. We grew up together in Diamond city. Can't recall how many times she beat up my brother because he and his lackeys were tormenting me. It was only natural that we ended up getting married as soon as we were old enough. Not long after getting married my brother became Mayor and forced out all the ghouls. She was about eight months pregnant and we lost the only Dr. the town had." Hancock reached into his pocket and pulled out a tin of mentats. He took a small handful and put them in his mouth. Danse heard them break as Hancock chewed them. "She went into labor and we had to rush out of Diamond city to head North to the only Dr. we knew about at the time. We had made plans to head that way anyway when we got closer to time but I guess the baby was done waiting. She gave birth in an alley way near the Cambridge Crater and I had just wrapped our new daughter in a blanket when a glowing ghoul appeared at the end of the alley." Hancock shook his head. "It was before I had started carrying a gun and we were defenseless, Nicky begged me to run with the baby since she was still week from the birth…I kissed her and told her I would be back."

Danse looked down and shook his head.

Hancock balled his fist. "I should have tried to carry them both! By the time I got back she was gone, then we found a trail of blood. I followed it to the crater and saw the glowing ghoul at the bottom with my wife screaming and writhing as she turned into a ghoul. Nick held me back and told me it was too late. I watched helpless as she became a ghoul and nothing could be done. I was a smooth skin at the time or I would have ran to save her in a heart beat. Nick was the one that asked me if I wanted my daughter to grow up an orphan or not."

Hancock took a deep breath and looked at Danse. "So there you have it Danse, that's what happened to Fahrenheit's mother, that's why I drugged Kali into a deep sleep. I can feel that damn glowing ghoul is still in that crater and it will lure Kali in so it can feed off the radiation she gives off."

Danse took a deep breath and shook his head. "I'm truly sorry Hancock. Thank you for watching out for her." Danse got up and started to walk away from Hancock.

Hancock looked up from the pot and pointed at Danse with the spoon. "Danse! I wouldn't sleep if I were you. Keep a close eye on her and don't leave her unprotected from this point on. I can feel that fucking ghoul and I can tell he wants her." A glob of grey stuff fell off the spoon and hit the ground with a plop.

Danse nodded his head and walked back to Kali. When he got to her Daisy was asleep and Billy was playing with Joy. Kali was still sleeping on the sleeping bags. Danse laid next to Kali and watched Billy play with Joy. The night air was pleasant and the moon was out in full bathing everything in a soft silver glow. Danse closed his eyes for a moment to take it all in.

"Danse! Damn it! where's Kali!" Danse sat up startled as he felt a boot on his back shake him awake. He looked next to where he was laying looked for Kali and saw she was gone. Hancock was standing behind Danse glaring at him with an angry look on his face.

"I TOLD YOU TO FUCKING WATCH HER DAMN IT!" Hancock yelled. Joy begun to cry and Daisy woke up. She picked up Joy from a sleeping Billy and rocked her gently.

Danse got up and looked around with panic and fear rising in his chest. "I was… she was right here damn it!" he yelled at Hancock as he picked up his gun and put it in a holster on his hip.

Hancock shook his head and grabbed Danse and pulled him out of the parking garage when Daisy gave him a warning glare. "I have a guess at where she might be, better pray to whatever it is you pray to that were not to fucking late!" Hancock spoke in a low angry growl.

Danse followed Hancock through buildings and down alleyways. He stopped suddenly and held up a hand to Danse as they approached a place that was bathed in a green glow.

Danse and Hancock ducked low and slowly made there way to the edge of the crater. Danse looked down and saw Kali standing in front of a massive green glowing ghoul that was huge with pulsating flesh and veins all over it. He started to get up to rush to Kali but Hancock pulled him back down as he tried to get up. "Don't even think about it, see all those other ghouls? They will rip you apart as soon as he sees you, and that green glow is not just a pretty light. There is just as much radiation down there as there is in the glowing sea. I know you're a synth Danse, but even that would probably kill you. Stay up here and don't make a sound!" Hancock whispered to Danse.

Hancock slowly made his way down being carful to not get the attention of the glowing ghoul. He almost had a heart attack when he saw a familiar face. Hancock stared at her for a moment then took a deep breath as he looked away to focus on Kali and the glowing ghoul.

Hancock got behind the glowing ghoul and pointed his shot gun at the glowing Ghouls head. "Hey! Asshole! I'm back!"

The glowing ghoul turned to look at Hancock blinked, realized Hancock was there and glared at him. "It cant be.."

Hancock grinned. "It is, and its time I finish what you started." Hancock moved around and stood behind Kali. He pulled his trigger and the glowing ghoul never got another word out as his head exploded into a green glowing mess.

Hancock watched Kali close and kept his gun ready as the other ghouls around him started to shriek and become independent again.

He started to worry about her and started to reach for her. "Kali?"

Kali blinked and looked at him finally. "What happened?"

Hancock put his gun away and smiled at her. He was afraid she had turned feral. Hancock looked at the ghoul he had recognized as his wife and told Kali to go to Danse. He waited for Kali to leave.

Hancock knew by the way she looked she was long gone and deeply feral. Nothing could bring back his wife. Hancock wasn't sure if he was happy or more sad knowing she was like this. He had always figured she was dead and gone by now.

Hancock growled in anger as he aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. He watched as another splatter of green blood erupted from the lifeless glowing ghoul. Hancock grabbed the feral ghoul that was once his wife and held her close crying out in pain as he tried to take it all in instead of running again.

Hancock looked at her eyes but the ghoul looked past him struggling to get loose. He let her go and watched her stagger off completely oblivious to her surroundings. Hancock closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He reached in his pocket for some jet and remembered he was out of it. "Damn it all." He quietly said to his self.

Hancock looked up at where he had left Danse and saw he was gone. Hancock gave the feral ghoul one last look and climbed the steep hill leading out of the crator to find Danse and Kali.

Hancock got to the edge and noticed it was very quiet, not even the crows were calling out there normal caws. Hancock gripped his gun and fallowed Danse's foot prints. He found Danse and Kali kneeling on the other side of a car. Danse was scolding her and she was apologizing.

Hancock shook his head. Danse missed another good time to propose to her. Hancock paused and looked around, he had a feeling they were being watched and he was uneasy about the quietness. Something was off and they needed to get out of there.

((((Later))))

Kali was glaring at the man in black leather as he licked his lips while looking at her. She shuddered and backed up into Danse. Danse put a protective hand on her shoulder and held her. Danse looked at the man and pointed at him. "You will not touch her, just let us pass."

The men that were advancing behind them laughed and kept slowly edging closer with various weapons held in front of them. Hancock laughed out loud. "Lets make a bargain, let me and the big guy go and you still get to keep the girl, hell we'll even pay you to take her."

Kali's jaw dropped and she felt Danse's grip on her shoulder squeeze her painfully. She heard Danse whisper quietly "Your dead if they let us go Hancock, I'm not letting her go."

Hancock scoffed as he turned and aimed his gun at Danse. "Let her go Danse and were free to leave, you can't tell me you want a ghoul for a wife? If you really wanted her you would have asked her to marry you long ago. Better to let her live a slave then force her into a smooth skin's life."

Kali could feel Danse shake with rage behind her. She looked up at him and saw his face red with anger. Kali looked at Hancock and saw he had a smile on his face. She shook her head as she looked at him. She saw him give her a slight wink as he quickly glanced around when the man in leather yelled for the others to stop. Hancock didn't turn to face him when he spoke.

"Give me the girl and one hundred caps from each of you and we have a deal."

Hancock gently grabbed Kali as he kept his gun on Danse. He walked backwards and leaned in to kali and whispered into her ear. "I'm going to need you to duck as soon as you feel me let go of your arm, hell is going to break loose, stay down and let Danse and I take care of these thugs."

Hancock let her arm go and Kali quickly ducked down. She looked up just in time to see Hancock fire his shot gun into the mans face, or what was now left of it. She gasped as the body dropped and the alleyway erupted into yelling and gunfire as more people poured in from the doorways on each side.

Kali saw Hancock fight several men and shoot a few more. She looked over at Danse and saw he had a woman clinging to his back trying to stab him with a knife. Kali stood up and heard a bullet whiz by her head.

She took a step towards Danse and felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and heard a woman scream at her. When Kali tuned to face the woman she saw a tire iron in her right hand and she held it high as she lunged at Kali again. Kali grabbed her hand and twisted it just like she had done with the Radscorpion and used the woman's momentum to make her stab her self in the leg with the sharp end of the tire iron. The woman let out a pain filled scream.

"You fucking cunt! I'm going to rip you apart!" She screamed as she pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed wildly at Kali. Kali balled her fist and punched the woman hard in her face breaking her nose. The woman let out a shriek and dropped her knife as her hands flew up to her face. Blood was pouring out of her nose. She glared at Kali "Your dead bitch!"

She took a step towards Kali and kali yelped when she saw a fist appear out of no where and hit the woman behind her head making her fall to the ground in a passed out heap.

Kali looked up and saw Danse was breathing hard and had a gash across his face. He looked down at the woman and shook his head. "I hate fighting women like that but I'm not going to let anyone hurt you Kali."

Kali looked around and saw bodies were laying everywhere and some people were running or limping away further down the ally. Kali held her fists high and turned when she heard foot steps behind her. She relaxed when she saw it was Hancock with a big smile on his face. He gently put his hands on her fists and pushed them down. "Nice fighting sister, didn't think you would be able to handle your self in a fight, but I say you did just…" Danse suddenly took two steps towards Hancock and punched him in the face. Hancock stumbled back and nearly fell. "Yeah, I deserve that." He said as he rubbed his now bleeding lip.

Kali rushed to stand between Danse and Hancock. She looked up at Danse and put her hands up to his chest. "Danse! stop!"

Danse looked down at her and took a deep breath. He exhaled and his face softened a little. Kali saw a flash behind Danse and realized it was the man in black leather from earlier. He was laying on the ground with a gun in his hand. Kali watched with fear filling her as he slowly lifted his arm and aimed the gun in there direction. Kali threw her self into Danse and pushed him to the side. Danse stumbled and fell with her on top of him. Kali heard a gun shot rip through the air. Danse quickly pulled out his gun from his side and shot the man in-between his eyes. The man slumped forward, dead before his head even touched the ground.

Danse dropped his gun as Kali wrapped her arms around him. Danse took a deep breath and kissed her forehead. "You ok Kali?"

Kali nodded as he smiled at her. She kissed Danse and smiled back at him.

"I'm glad you two are ok an all, but I really need to get back to the caravan…" Hancock stumbled and had to put his hand on the alleyway wall to keep from falling. He had blood dripping from under his coat and it was starting to form a puddle under him.

Danse quickly got up with Kali already a few steps ahead of him. She pulled open Hancock's frock coat and gasped as she took a step back for Danse to see.

Danse saw Hancock's white shirt underneath was slowly being soaked with his blood. The dark red blood was blossoming like a flower from a bullet hole in his chest. "I'll be fine guys…really, just need a little…" Hancock coughed and blood driped out of the corner of his mouth. Hancock let out a moan as his body went limp and he fell forward onto Kali.


	12. Taste of the future

(I apologize, I was half asleep when I first posted this chapter. I have tried to do a better clean up. I know the chapters are short, but this lets me write and post in hopes I get this story finished. It is far from it but getting closer now.)

Kali caught Hancock wrapping her arms around him as she tried to hold Hancock up as he fell to the ground. "Hancock!" She yelled.

Danse helped Kali lay Hancock out on the ground as he knelt down to feel Hancock's neck for a pulse, it was week and getting weaker. Danse looked around with worry on his face and then back at Hancock shaking his head, he spoke with a hint of panic in his voice. "He's fading too fast, we won't make it to the caravan in time!"

Kali placed her hand on Hancock's chest and tried to stop the bleeding with her hand. She then looked at Danse with tears welling up in her eyes. "Danse…There has to be something we can do!"

Danse looked back down the way they had come and saw the soft green glow of the Cambridge crater. Danse looked at Hancock then Kali. "Radiation…" he mumbled remembering what Hancock had told him back at Sanctuary Hills. Danse awkwardly lifted Hancock and carried him as best as he could towards the crater. Danse glanced back at Kali as she carried Hancock's frock coat and saw confusion was forming a question on her face. "He once told me radiation heals ghouls, it helped you, maybe…" Kali ran behind Danse following him while wiping tears from her eyes, she was trying not to look at the blood trail they were leaving behind.

When they made it to the edge of the crater Danse started to carry Hancock down the steep side. Some of the Feral ghouls looked up and snarled in there direction, some of them lunging and biting at the air as they ran fearless and fast. Danse quickly put Hancock down and pulled out his gun. "You need to drag him the rest of the way Kali! I'll draw them away from here and try to cover you if you run into trouble!"

Kali rushed to Hancock and wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down into the crater, he moaned as she struggled to lift him. When they reached the bottom, Kali made sure he was laying in the glowing water. The BOS uniform she was wearing was repelling the water keeping her dry. Kali rushed with her nimble fingers as she opened his shirt showing her the bullet wound on his scarred chest.

Kali let out a silent cry as she watched the glowing water under him start to swirl with wisps of red as he continued to bleed out. Kali patted Hancock's cheek and stared at his face trying too look for help. "HANCOCK! Wake up, I don't know what to do!"

Hancock mumbled softly but didn't make another sound as kali looked around and saw some feral ghouls were hanging around the corps of the glowing ghoul. It was still glowing, but the glow was fading slowly away.

Kali jumped up and ran to the glowing ghoul keeping her eyes on the pacing ferals, she scooped some of the green glowing blood with her hands and gasped as she felt a sudden rush of energy that jolted her senses. Kali shook her head to stay focused and ran it back to Hancock. She smeared the blood on his wound and saw it was working, she watched with a smile on her face. Kali was fascinated as she saw his wound start to slowly close. "Hancock, your going to be ok." She smiled and placed her hand on the side of his face and let out a sigh of relief. Kali watched his shallow breathing and saw him take a deep breath and let it out. Kali looked down at his wound and saw it had stopped healing. She felt her heart skip a beat as she stared at his chest waiting for him to take another breath but he never did. Her hand went for his neck and her fingers felt for a pulse and found none.

"No… Hancock… you can't!" She screamed as she started to thrust on his chest trying to get him to breath again. She burst into tears as she tried to get his heart beating again. It worked for Danse maybe… Kali cringed and shivered as she finally felt the cold radiated water seep through the BOS coverall and felt the strong tingling of radiation as she felt her body absorb it.

Kali leaned down and started to gave Hancock breath of air and gasped when she felt a sudden wave of intense energy hit her when her lips touched his. Kali blinked then looked down and saw her hand was touching the radiated blood on Hancock's chest. She saw that not only the blood was glowing, but her skin was starting to give off a soft glow that was getting brighter.

Kali quickly pulled back from Hancock and looked at her arms. Her skin was glowing, the feeling was intense and wonderful. She closed her eyes wanting to enjoy this feeling forever. Kali let out an odd laugh as the radiation high made her head spin. Kali shook her head trying to clear her mind and put her hands back on Hancock's chest making her mind focus on him. Kali felt some of the energy that was building in her flow into Hancock and laughed again as the wound on his chest started healing again.

Kali felt his neck and could feel his heart slowly start beating again. Hancock opened his eyes and suddenly sat up gasping for air. He quickly looked down at his chest and felt where the wound had been. "How the fuck…"

Kali wrapped her arms around Hancock and held him tightly as she smiled. "Your alive! I thought I lost you!" Kali was laughing and crying as she embraced him.

Hancock laughed his gravely laugh and placed his hand on the back of her bald head holding Kali close to him. She could feel him shaking but his voice was calm and his body was warm again. "Takes more then a little bullet to kill this ghoul love." Kali laughed as she let go and pulled back from Hancock to look at his face. Kali saw his smile disappear when he looked at her and saw she was glowing and getting brighter.

Hancock suddenly stood up and pulled Kali to her feet. "KALI! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!… get out of here NOW!" Hancock yelled at her as he grabbed her hand and pulled her trying to get her out of the green muck. Kali sat there and looked up at her arm and saw she was getting brighter yet. She felt wonderful, better then she ever has felt before. Kali looked around at the other feral ghouls that were now surrounding her and saw they were slowly getting closer the brighter she got.

Kali felt Hancock pull on her again trying to get her to get up and go with him. Kali growled a low threatening growl as she stood up and yanked her hand back from Hancock taking a few steps away from him. She loved the way she felt and didn't want to leave. "Leave me ALONE!" Kali yelled as the waves of pleasure and ecstasy started to make her spin. Kali's eyes went wide with fear and took a few steps back when Hancock turned and glared at her. He took a step towards her and grabbed her hand gripping it with painful strength. "I'm not going to leave you here DAMN IT! Your going to become a FUCKING feral if you stay Kali!"

Kali shook her head and growled again. She punched Hancock hard across his face and yanked her arm back when he let her go "WHAT THE FUCK KALI!" he yelled as his nose started bleeding.

Kali shook her head blinking her eyes at the sight of his blood. She looked down at the hand she hit him with and tears started falling from her eyes as she shook her head stepping back from Hancock shaking. "Hancock! I'm sorry…" her eyes went wide with fear when she felt her foot get tangled on something in the water and tripped falling backwards onto the dead body of the glowing ghoul.

Kali gasped and screamed as pure radiation flooded her body and made her feel like the world stopped spinning and time had stopped. She felt intense power surge through her as she quickly stood up covered in green glowing blood.

Everything flashed before her eyes and she saw glimpses of things she didn't understand. She saw what looked to be thousands of dead ghouls laying together in a world of green as a giant robot walked away in the distance. She cringed when she saw Danse laying in a pool of blood, Hancock laying dead with a dead black haired ghoul wrapped in his arms. She saw a massive battle between people in power armor and normal looking people, they all stopped fighting to look up when a huge explosion shook the ground and a mushroom cloud billowed up in the distance. Kali blinked and everything went suddenly dark and quiet. Slowly a green glowing smoke billowed up from nowhere and it formed into what appeared to be a featureless woman. Kali heard a soft melodic voice that she could hear and feel speak to her. "Your not ready for this yet, release the energy before it consumes you."

Kali blinked again and saw she was looking into what looked like two black endless pools of black obsidian. It took her a moment to realize she was looking into Hancock's eyes and felt his arms were wrapped around her holding her tight trying to shake her out of her daze.

Hancock was holding her up as he slowly dragged Kali trying to get her out of the crater. "Come on Kali, Fight this!"

Kali felt the energy suddenly surge to extreme levels and felt her body was going to be ripped apart with it no longer able to contain what was building within her. "I can't… Hancock… Help… " she gasped as she tried to focus on his face and eyes. Kali suddenly threw her head back and let out a scream of pure pain as her skin started to feel like every molecule in her body was being pulled apart as the raw energy pushed her limits.

Kali could barely keep her thoughts together when she heard the voice from the green mist in her mind as she continued to scream. "Release your energy… push it away from you!"

Kali gritted her teeth and took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. She felt her hands grip Hancock as she focused her mind and imagined her self pushing the energy away from her body. She gasped when something bubble up from deep with in and felt her skin tingle as a burst of energy suddenly erupted her body. Kali took a deep breath and tried to do it again and felt even more energy leave her system.

Kali opened her eyes and saw Hancock was staring at her with shock on his face. He held her tightly in his arms and she could feel him brace his self as Kali stared back into his obsidian eyes. She pulled her up under her and stood on them as she held Hancock. Kali focused her mind as she stared into the deep darkness of his eyes and felt a final massive release of energy explode from her. Kali felt the ground shake as the water around them was temporally pushed back with the force of the energy Kali had released.

She took a breath and looked at her arm that was clinging to Hancock. She was no longer glowing and was now shaking with Hancock. Hancock was holding her tight against him and she could feel his heart beating fast. Kali looked up at his face and saw his eyes were wide as he looked at something behind her then down at her with shock and Awe.

"Damn… I don't know what… fuck… are you ok?"

Kali nodded speechless. Hancock slowly let go of Kali and pointed behind her. Kali turned and saw the group of feral ghouls that had been in the crater with them were looking at there hands and glancing around them as they became aware of there surroundings. Kali felt Hancock touch her shoulder as he took a few slow steps to one of the ghouls.

"Nicky?" He said as he approached a ghoul with black hair. The ghoul paused, slowly looked up at Hancock and tilted its head. "John?"

Kali saw Hancock rush forward and embrace the ghoul. He held her tight and Kali could hear them both breath with ragged breaths as they burst into tears and cries of joy.

"KALI!" Kali heard Danse yelling and turned to look at him. He was standing at the top of the crater with worry etched all over his face. Kali looked back at Hancock and saw he was talking excitedly to the ghoul he called Nicky.

Kali turned away and quickly climbed out of the crater. Kali stumbled as she climbed down from some rubble and ran as fast as she could to Danse. Danse caught her and held her as he looked down at Hancock. "What the hell happened down there? I was trying to keep the ghouls from running back into the crater when there was a massive explosion. The ghouls ran back this way and I came back as quickly as I could."

Kali rested her head on Danse's chest and closed her eyes for a moment. "I… saved Hancock, he died and I brought him back somehow." Kali felt Danse pause as what she told him sunk in. Kali held him tighter as she remembered the vision of Danse laying in blood and Hancock dead embracing a ghoul with… Kali gasped then quickly looked back down at the bottom of the pit and stared the black haired ghoul from her vision.


	13. and she said

(Heads up. This chapter is short, but it does contain very graphic smut. You have been warned. Also, keep in mind I don't have Fallout 4 anymore since my house burned down. I apologize if things are a bit off. I couldn't hold back on this story any longer. Expect more chapters, they wont be as long or detailed as my last chapters but I intend to finish this story by the end of this year or the beginning of the next.)

Kali walked with Danse back to the parking garage where the rest of the caravan was camped out at. It was still dark and everyone was sleeping.

She watched as Hancock and the black haired ghoul trailed off and left them. She fallowed Danse back to where he had made a place for them to sleep. Danse watched her in silence as she looked at Daisy with the baby sleeping peacefully in her arms.

She felt his warm hand rest on her shoulder and she turned to look at him and saw his face was still bleeding a little from where he had been cut earlier. Tiredness was etched on his face as he gave her a slight smile before wrapping his arms around her and pulled her close. "I thought I lost you, I never want to loose you Kali."

Kali rested her head on his chest, "I never want to loose you Danse." She looked up at his face and smiled. "I love you too damn much."

Danse let out a soft laugh as he reached into a pocket and pulled out a chain with two rings dangling from it. He let her go and knelt on one knee as he took her hand in his. He took a deep shaky breath as he looked up at her face. "Kali, will you marry me?"

Kali gasped as she felt her stomach flutter. She tried to answer him but she couldn't get the words out so she just nodded her head and smiled at him.

He grinned as he removed the smaller ring and held it in his hand. "Is that a yes?"

Kali laughed as she blurted out the word she wanted to say. "YES!"

Danse pushed the ring onto her finger and before he could look back up at her she rushed into his arms knocking him back with her momentum as she held him tight. They both let out a laugh as she put her hands on both sides of his head and kissed him.

He held her tight as they embraced each other. She pulled back and smiled at him. "Yes, yes, yes!" She yelled as she kissed him again. She stopped when she heard Joy stir and woke up crying.

Daisy woke up and saw Kali on top of Danse and smiled. "Good to see your safe dear." Daisy picked up a bottle and held it for Joy to drink from and she stopped crying when she tasted the brahma milk.

Kali stood up and rushed to Daisy showing her the ring on her hand. "Were getting married Daisy!"

Daisy smiled as she rocked joy in her arms. "Congratulations dear! I wish you both the best of luck!"

Kali went back to Danse and embraced him again. He held her as he led her to their sleeping bags. He let her go to lay on his bag and he lifted his arm as he smiled at her. Kali smiled back as she laid next to him and felt his arms pull her close. "Lets get a little sleep, we have a bit to go yet before we reach Diamond city. Once we get there well go to the church and get married."

Kali smiled and felt weariness overtake her before she could reply. She quietly nodded her head as she felt herself drift into a deep sleep. Danse watched her sleep for awhile before he fell asleep with her.

Danse woke up from a dreamless sleep and looked down to see Kali was in a deep sleep. He saw the morning light was seep into the garage. He gently moved Kali before getting up. He stretched as he looked around and saw Daisy was gone. He looked back at Kali and smiled as she let out a soft snore.

He turned away and headed for the makeshift fire. He saw some of the others were awake and were making something in a large pot. He looked around and saw Hancock was talking excitedly to that Dark haired ghoul from the crater. He approached them and saw a few bags were sitting around them. "Good morning John."

Hancock looked up at Danse and cringed. "I would say the same, but your face…you should clean it man." Hancock opened a bag and handed Danse a bottle of purified water and a rag. "Did you sleep on glass or somthin?"

Danse felt his face and felt crusted blood flake off. He took the water and poured a bit on the rag. "No I think it was from that fight in the ally, I forgot all about it after proposing to Kali."

Hancock let out a loud laugh as he clapped his hands. "About damn time! I'm guessing she said yes?"

Danse ran the wet rag across his face as he gave Hancock a big smile. "You bet she did." He looked at Hancock, "Did I get it all?"

The dark haired ghoul stood up and stepped closer to Danse. "No, you still got quiet a bit…here I'll help you…" She took the rag from Danse and helped him clean his face. "There, much better. I have to say, you do look much better without blood on your face."

Danse nodded his head. "Thanks, don't think I caught your name."

She smiled as she tossed the dirty rag into the fire. "I'm Nicole Donoghue."

Hancock stood up and wrapped his arm around her. "Gonna have to change that to Hancock love." He Smiled at her before kissing her.

She giggled when he let her go. "I keep forgetting you changed your name John." She kissed him again before letting him go. She gave Danse a quick smile before she turned and went back to where she had been sitting.

Hancock looked at Danse and took a deep breath. "Sorry for what I said back at the ally, it was all I could think of at the time." He held his hand out to Danse.

Danse took his hand and shook it. "Sorry I hit you so hard, and its ok, you got us out of a bad spot." He let go of Hancock's hand and lowered his voice to a whisper, "Are you going to need the rings back?"

Hancock shook his head. "Naw, were going to renew our vows with new rings. Were going to leave ahead of the caravan so we can do it at Goodneighbor before…" Hancock grinned at Danse, "After you and Kali tie the knot head over to Goodneighbor, I'll have a surprise waiting for you two."

Danse gave Hancock a suspicious look. "I'm not even going to ask."

Hancock laughed. "Good, because I still wouldn't of told ya." Hancock stopped laughing and gave Danse a serious look. "What Kali did back at the crater is beyond anything I've ever seen. She…well fuck Danse she brought me back from the dead and turned feral ghouls back to normal." He shook his head as he placed a hand on his chest. "I don't even have a scar from that damn bullet."

Danse shook his head. "What did happen down there?"

Hancock shifted as he tried to think of a way to explain. "She became a glowing ghoul, a damn fucking powerful glowing ghoul. There's something about her that's different from any other ghoul I've ever came across. Keep her safe Danse, don't ever let her near anything with too much radiation. You might loose her to whatever it is that makes her so different." Hancock gave Danse a warning glare before turning away to rejoin Nicole.

Danse took a deep breath. He shook his head then headed to the fire pit to see what he could grab for breakfast.

Kali shivered and woke up with her head pounding. She moaned as she rolled over and felt she was alone. She opened her eyes and saw Danse was gone and quickly sat up with panic as she looked around for him. Daisy was gone and her bed role was gone too.

Kali stood up and wobbled as her stomach rolled and rushed to an empty spot, knelt down and threw up. She wiped her mouth and tried to stand again. Her head spun as she slowly walked back to the sleeping bags and sat on them.

She felt her stomach settle when she stopped moving and sat for a moment with her eyes closed.

"Good morning love, brought some rolls for breakfast."

Kali opened her eyes and saw Danse was kneeling down to her with a rolls in one hand and bottles of water in his other. She gave him a slight smile as she grabbed a water and drank it. She took a roll and smiled at him. "Thank you."

Danse looked at her with worry on his face. "Are you ok? You look a little pale." He set his water and roll down as he sat next to her.

Kali took a bite of the roll and nearly gagged as the smell of it made her stomach turn again. "I feel a little sick, but I'm ok now that you're here." She put the roll down and drank more of the water.

Danse felt her forehead and shook his head. "Your not as warm as you normally feel." He pulled her close and held her as she sat on his lap. He grabbed one of the sleeping bags and covered her with it. "Better?"

Kali nodded her head as she absorbed the warmth. "Much better now that I'm with you."

Danse rubbed her back and kissed her forehead. "The caravan will be heading out soon, we need to get our things packed and get them loaded." He kissed her again. "Were getting married today."

Kali smiled as she looked up at his scruffy face. "Then lets get our stuff packed so we can get married faster." She kissed his lips and held him close.

Danse held her as she kissed him. He trailed his hands to the front of the BOS suit she was wearing and pulled on the zipper. Kali gasped as the cool air hit her exposed skin. "What if someone see's us?" She asked as she put her hands on his stopping him from unzipping her any further.

He grinned at her and moved his hands to her back. "Then they better turn around and walk away." He leaned forward and laid Kali onto her back. He Smiled as he pulled on the zipper of his blue mechanic suit.

Kali felt a rush of excitement as he pulled his arms out of the sleeves. Danse pushed his suit down and leaned over her as he kissed her lips. "Might be awhile before we get another chance to do this."

Danse gripped her zipper and slowly pulled it down as he watched her face flush with excitement. He slowly slipped his hands under her suit and ran his hands up her stomach and stopped when her breasts were cupped in each hand.

Kali let out a tiny gasp of pleasure as his fingers gently circled her nipples and felt her body warm with a sudden rush of excitement. She looked at him with a fierce hunger in her eyes and smiled. "Damn you, I want more." She placed a hand on his face and pulled him to her. She kissed him passionately as she rubbed him with her other hand. She felt his body tense up as she wrapped her fingers around his hard arousal.

He pushed her suit from her shoulders he sat up and moaned when he felt her fingers move away from him. He pulled her suit down stopping to pull her boots off as he finished removing her suit. He looked at her face as he slowly trailed his hands back up her legs and felt her shiver with excitement as his hands glided up her thighs. He gently pushed her legs apart and moved a hand closer to her mound.

He ran his hand across her folds before he let a finger slip through and rubbed her clit with gentle stokes and swirls of his finger tip. Kali let out a gasp as shivers of pleasure ran across her skin. Danse felt his fingers become slick as her body responded to his invading touch. He ran his other hand up her thigh and leaned forward as he spread her open with his fingers and ran his tongue across her most sensitive spot.

Kali let out a low moan as she tilted her hip forward, her body was begging for more. Danse moved lower and moved his tongue around as he lapped at her sweetness that was coming from her. Kali gripped a handful of her suit as a small rush of pure pleasure enveloped her senses. She felt her hips buck with each wave that crashed over her.

Danse gave her a kiss on her mound and continued kissing his way up her body. He made his way to a breast and kissed her nipple before opening his mouth. He gently nibbled on her nipple as he sucked on it and heard her gasp in pain and pleasure. He cupped her other breast in his hand and rolled her other nipple between his fingers. He felt her hands move to the back of his head and felt her fingers dig into his hair as another orgasm over took her.

He kissed her breast and gave It one last nibble as he spread her legs further apart with his legs. He trailed his kisses up her neck and stopped at her lips. He looked at her and saw she was breathing hard. He squeezed her breast as he rolled her nipple between his fingers as he leaned closer to her ear and whispered. "More?"

Kali let out little gasps as goosbumps exploded across her exposed skin and nodded her head as she kissed his cheek. Danse put his lips on hers and kissed her deeply as he explored her with his tongue. He slowly moved his hands behind her head and held her as he thrust his hips into her and felt her arch her back as he pushed deep into her core.

He heard her moan and felt his mouth vibrate with her voice as he slowly started to move his hips. He felt her body grip him with each thrust. He lifted his head and let out a deep moan as he felt his primal urges take over. He tried to control his self but felt his body go faster as the feeling of release built to a new level he never felt before.

He heard Kali cry out as her back arched and screamed as her orgasm hit her hard. Danse felt her muscles tighten around him and he couldn't hold it back any longer. He gritted his teeth and let out an animalistic growl as his hips bucked with each surge of primal release.

He bucked his hips one last time before collapsing next to her breathless. They held on to each other as they both rode the trail end of the last remnants of their shared moment of pure ecstasy.

After a a few moments passed Kali shivered again even with Danse so close to her. Danse pulled her closer to him and held her. "I love you Kali."

Kali smiled as she kissed his chest. "I love you too."

She shivered again and heard a loud whistle in the distance. Danse took a deep breath and let her go. "That's the caravan lead, lets get dressed and pack our stuff up."

(())

Kali held her pack and rolled up sleeping bag and blinked as she stepped into the bright sunlight. Danse was a few steps ahead of her and was quickly walking to the caravan wagons. Kali still felt odd as she fallowed him. She felt drained and exhausted. She grinned as she remembered why she felt so drained.

Danse secured the stuff he was carrying then took Kali's stuff and made sure it was secure too. He took her to the wagon that Daisy, Joy and Billy were sitting in and helped her into it.

Danse kissed her as he closed the back end of the wagon. "I have to patrol the front with MacCready since Hancock left early for Goodneighbor. There wont be much danger on the road since were so close to Diamond City now."

Kali took a deep irritated breath but held her thoughts to her self. "Just be careful Danse."

Danse gave her one last kiss before turning away and headed to the front of the caravan.

Daisy smiled as she rocked Joy in her arms. "Is it true? Your getting married today?"

Kali smiled as she nodded her head. "That's what he told me. I can't wait!" Kali felt another wave of nausea hit and she quickly took a few deep breaths to let it pass.

Daisy gave her a worried glance when she saw Kali close her eyes. "What's wrong dear?"

Kali took a deep breath and gave Daisy a smile to keep her from worrying too much. "I'm fine, just feel a bit under the weather is all."

Daisy moved closer to Kali and felt he head. "Your cold!"

Kali looked at Daisy with an odd glance. "I feel fine, honest Daisy!"

Daisy leaned back and kept looking at Kali with a worried look. "Promise me you'll go see Dr. Amari when we get into GoodNeighbor."

Kali took a deep breath then nodded her head. "I promise Daisy." Kali smiled at Joy. "May I hold her?"

Daisy smiled at Kali and nodded her head. "I've been needing a little break from her, here is her food if she wakes up." Daisy handed Kali a bottle before passing Joy to her.

Kali leaned back as she snuggled Joy into her arms and watched her sleep. She felt the wagon suddenly jerk as it started rolling forward. Kali smiled as she looked down at the small baby and whispered. "I'm getting married!"


	14. The wedding

Kali held Joy and smiled at the baby when she opened her eyes. Joy looked at her and cooed. Kali giggled and the baby smiled for her. Billy looked over and smiled as he moved closer to Kali and Joy. Daisy was snoring softly as the wagon swayed with the bumps and groves of the road.

Billy ran his hand over the soft blond tuft of hair that graced the top of Joy's head. "She's so cute, I'm going to miss her when we get to Diamond City."

Kali looked at him. "You could always visit her."

Billy shook his head. "I don't think her grandmother will allow that, from what Daisy says, her grandma is a big ghoul hater."

Kali shook her head. "Why do people hate ghouls?"

Billy took a deep breath. "I think it has a lot to do with the feral ghouls. They wont hurt us, but they attack smooth skins. All ghouls that are normal will eventually become feral as our minds rot with time." Billy wiped a tear from his face. "That's how my father explained it to me anyway."

Kali started playing with Joy and listened to her coo and giggle. "I got to see some ferals while I was in the Cambridge crater I can understand why people ae scared of them." Kali stopped playing with Joy for a moment and looked at Billy. "Is it common for ferals to turn back to normal?"

Billy blinked at her. He gave her a confused look and shook his head. "My father told me that once you turn there is no way of coming back. We always made sure to find something to keep our minds occupied to keep our brains working, but there is no sure thing to stop it once it starts."

Kali continued to play with Joy for a moment. She saw feral ghouls turn back to normal. That black haired ghoul crossed her mind and she remembered the visions that had flooded her mind. She cringed at the memory of seeing Danse in a pool of blood and Hancock dead with the black haired ghoul in his arms. Kali took a deep breath and prayed that what she had seen wasn't the future.

Joy started to wiggle more and her face started to turn as she started crying. Kali picked up the bottle and held it to her lips. Joy immediately started suckling on it and closed her eyes.

Kali rocked her gently as she started humming. Billy leaned back and smiled as he listened to Kali hum. "Kali, did you get to meet Hancock's wife before they left?"

Kali stopped humming but kept rocking Joy. "Yeah, she…was different the first time I met her."

Billy looked confused as he stared at the sky above him. "I thought he lost his wife, something about her being turned into a ghoul and becoming feral."

Kali took a deep breath. "Yeah, she was feral."

Billy sat up and looked at Kali with surprised eyes. "But…if she was feral how did she…comeback?"

Kali wasn't sure how to answer him since she wasn't sure about how it happened her self. "Something happened to me when I was trying to help Hancock. He had been shot and was dying so we took him to the crater hoping the radiation would help him."

Bill's mouth dropped as he let out a shocked gasp. "Hancock was shot!"

Kali nodded her head and cringed at the horrible memory. "He stopped breathing after I tried to use glowing blood from a glowing ghoul to heal his wound faster. As soon as I touched the stuff I felt different, the energy was intoxicating and powerful."

Billy was silent as his mouth appeared to keep dropping. He started to talk but he appeared to be at a loss for words.

Kali watched as Joy finished her bottle. Kali shifted her to her shoulder and patted her back a few times before Joy let out a satisfied burp. Kali made sure her blanket was snug around her as she went back to rocking her. "I felt the energy as it slowly felt like it was building up within me. I placed my hand on Hancock's wound and felt the energy flow from me and into him. It brought him back and healed his wound somehow." Kali stared at Joy's sleeping face as she tried to comprehend what happened next.

A few long moments passed and Kali jumped when Daisy spoke. "You became a glowing ghoul."

Kali looked at her and nodded her head. "Would explain why my skin was glowing then."

Daisy looked at Billy and saw the pure shock that was etched on his face. She looked back at Kali and shook her head. "Hancock told me everything. Said you healed him and turned some ferals sane." She grinned, "said you even gave him a good punch to the face too."

Kali gasped, she forgot about that. Was that why he wouldn't speak to her and left early for Goodneighbor? "I didn't mean to, I… I was…"

"Power hungry. He was trying to pull you away from what was fueling your power and you didn't want that." Daisy stretched and yawned as she looked around. "Were just about there kiddos."

Kali looked around and saw nothing but old crumbling buildings. Everything was in a state of decay and she could tell this was a major part of the city it once was. She thought of the images she had seen and shuddered again. "Is it possible to see the future Daisy?"

Daisy laughed and nodded her head. "I knew someone that was able to see things in the future. She called it the sight, said it showed her things that would happen to the person asking for her to read them."

Kali felt a shiver of dread as she replayed the memories through her mind. "Can they be changed?"

Daisy gave Kali a side glance as she pulled out a bottle of water. "To an extent according to my friend. Why do you ask dear?"

Kali closed her eyes. "Because I saw things when the energy I felt nearly overpowered me."

Daisy put her bottle of water away. "I don't know how it all works, if Mama Murphy was still alive we could of asked her." Daisy reached for Joy, "Out of curiosity what did you see?"

Kali took a deep breath. "Danse dead and laying in a puddle of blood, Hancock and his wife were on a platform with hundreds of other ghouls, all dead. There was a giant robot and a huge battle, the robot disappeared and a huge blast exploded in the distance."

Daisy and Billy looked at Kali with wide eyes. Daisy shook her head. "Lets pray that never comes to pass then."

They rode in silence as the caravan pushed forward. An hour or so went by before the wagon stopped moving. Daisy smiled as she stood up. "We have arrived!" Kali got up and opened the latch on the back of the wagon to let Daisy and Billy out. She stretched as she stood behind the wagon and felt her back pop in a few places. She smiled as she looked around and saw they were in front of a huge yellow gate that was open. She saw a few people walk out of the door under the gate and smiled when she recognized some of them.

Kali felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Danse was smiling at her. "You ready?"

Kali nodded as he held her hand and led her to the open gate. Nora and RJ were hugging and kissing as they walked passed them. Nick was talking to a woman in a red coat. She was a little taller then Kali and had long black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. She saw Danse and let out a yell of surprise as she rushed at him and gave him a hug. "How have you been big guy?"

Danse scratched the back of his head as he gave her a big smile. "I've been surviving, how is life like now that you're a Mayor Piper?"

She let him go and let out an exhausted sigh. "It's been a big change. I live in the office above now, it's been a good change for Nate. She loves the view from the windows. I've already made a few changes and I have more planned, removing the ghoul ban being one of them." Piper looked at Kali then at her hand in Danse's hand and ginned. "Who is this Danse?"

Danse smiled as he leaned over to Kali and kissed her. "This is Kali, she's my fiancé for the time being."

Piper looked at Danse then at Kali. A smile spread across her face as she nodded at Kali. "Nice to meet you, must be some woman to of made this oaf want to marry you. I'm Piper…mayor of Diamond City."

Kali shook her hand. "Were on our way to the chapel to get married!"

Piper gasped, "Oh…Your getting married today! Congratulations! You have got to show me what your going to wear!"

Kali shifted as she looked down at her clothes. "I'm going to wear this."

Piper looked at Danse then at Kali. "No. I cant let you get married to my best friend looking like that."

Kali felt Danse squeeze her hand. "Piper, we don't have any caps for anything fancy. Were just going to head in to the chapel, say our vows and leave."

Piper looked at Kali and shook her head. "I'm sorry but I can't allow that Danse."

Kali gave piper a sad look. "It's because I'm a ghoul isn't it?" Kali could feel Danse shake with silent rage as he put his arm across her shoulders.

Piper shook her head as she put her hands on her hips. "Fuck that rule!"

Nick put a hand on Piper's shoulder. "Piper! You have got to remember your a Mayor now, you cant talk like that in the open!"

Piper glared at Nick then turned back to Danse and Kali. "I wasn't even talking about her being a ghoul. I cant let you two get married looking the way you both do. Nick, you take Danse and get him cleaned up, get him a suit from one of the venders. I'm taking Kali up to the office to let her get cleaned up and ill send Nate out to get her a dress. Don't worry about caps, its not everyday my friends get married."

Kali couldn't stop smiling as Piper grabbed her and pulled her away from Danse. She looked back to see Danse was smiling with tears on his face. "I love you!" She yelled back at him as Piper pulled her into an elevator. She heard him yell I love you back at as the doors closed.

(Danse)

He watched as the elevator shut with Kali and Piper disappearing from his view. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked at Nick. He was grinning as he shook his head. "Didn't expect to ever see this happen. Come on, let's get you ready." Nick laughed as he walked towards the steps leading into Diamond city.

Danse followed Nick to his detective agency and walked in and saw Ellie was busy organizing papers. She looked up and smiled when she saw Danse. "Good afternoon Danse, what brings you here?"

Nick grinned, "He's getting married Ellie."

She looked at Nick then back at Danse with a surprised face. "Congratulation's ! I'm sure Haylen must be ecstatic!"

Danse nervously shifted as Nick shook his head. "Haylen and I broke up, I'm marrying someone ells."

Ellie gasped as she quickly stood up. "Oh! I'm sorry…I didn't know!"

Danse smiled at her. "It's ok."

Nick grabbed a bag of caps from a filing cabinet and handed it to Ellie. "He needs a suit, a really nice one if you can find one in his size."

Ellie took the bag of caps. "I'll make sure it's a good one. Oh, Hancock left a package here, said it might come in handy." Ellie walked to a small table by the couch and picked it up. She handed it to Nick.

Nick opened it and smiled when he saw what it was. "I see he knows about the old traditions, though it's more for the bride then the groom." He held up a blue vest with gold embroidery around the edges. A note fell from it as he handed it to Danse.

Danse picked up the note and grinned when he read it. "I'm sure by now your being forced to wear nice clothes for your wedding, here is something blue to go with that good luck thing that people do when getting married. Something blue, something barrowed and something old I think is how it goes. So here is my blue vest. It's blue, barrowed and definitely old. Don't forget to come to Goodneighbor after the wedding. Got a huge surprise for tonight!"

Danse laughed. "Yeah nick I agree with you, but I'll take all the good luck I can though."

Ellie smiled as she opened the door. "I'll make sure the suit goes with the vest then, be back in a few!."

Danse watched her leave out the door. Nick walked to his desk and sat in the chair. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it with his silver lighter. "I've heard of more ghouls disappearing all over the commonwealth, the sewers are quiet from what I've herd from scavengers."

Danse shook his head. "What could the possibly want with all the ghouls?"

Nick sat for a moment. "From what I can gather it has something to do with the radiation they naturally have in their systems. The firs ghouls to disappear were the glowing ones. Now it seams like someone is amassing what could only be an army of ghouls in the glowing sea."

Danse sat on a couch and stared at the stack of folders on the table in front of him. "A month ago I wouldn't of cared, but now that I have Kali…its all different."

Nick nodded. "Yeah, love have a way of changing how you see things. I learned that from Jenny."

The door to the agency opened and Ellie walked in with a big smile. She had a black tuxedo in her arms. "This should fit decent Danse, and it should look great with that vest."

Danse gave her a quick hug then took the tuxedo from her. "Thanks, both of you, thank you."

Nick smiled as Ellie blushed. "Not a problem Danse, it's just good to see a bit of happiness in such a bleak world." Nick nodded at the bathroom. "Better get cleaned up. The bathtub works, I even fixed the hot water tank so Ellie could take some hot baths if she ever wanted to."

Danse nodded as he closed the bathroom door behind him. He looked at the tub and realized he's never even used one. A cold dip in a stream was usually how he got the grime off. He turned the knobs and stared at the steam that arose from the heated water. He felt the water with his hand and jerked back. It was hot enough to cook him alive! He figured out how to adjust the temperature and filled the tub.

He undressed and stepped in, he let out a gasp as he sat. This was the best thing he's ever felt, almost better then sex.

(later)

Danse opened the door and stepped out feeling like a new man. His skin was still a bit red from his soak in the tub. He was wearing the tuxedo and was amazed at how perfectly it fit him.

Ellie and Nick both stood up and smiled at him. "She's not going to recognize you!" Ellie said in an amazed tone of voice.

Danse laughed. "She'll recognize me!"

Nick put his hat back on and led them out of his agency. He locked the door behind them and walked with Danse and Ellie to the chapel. Once they got inside Danse was surprised to see it was filled with his friends.

Nora and MacCready was sitting with Shaun and Duncan in between them. Curie was sitting with Daisy and Billy, Joy was softly sleeping in Daisy's arms. He watched as Nick and Ellie sat on a bench next to a bald man that was grinning from ear to ear. Danse looked at him for a moment before he recognized who it was. "Deacon! Been a long time since I've seen you!"

Deacon laughed. "Not been that long ago since I seen you last Danse."

Danse didn't like Deacon much but knew his stealth was a great asset to have around, especially if you were on his good side.

Nate burst through the doors and looked at Danse. "We saw you were headed here and we finished getting her ready. She's on her way!"

Nate looked around and saw Duncan. "Nora, is it ok if Duncan and I sit on the bench behind you?"

Nora nodded her head. "Its ok Nate."

Duncan smiled as he got up and raced the bench behind Nora. Nate hurried over and sat next to him blushing. Danse grinned when he realized they were flirting and saw Duncan grab her hand and hold it.

He walked to the front and stood in front of the man that owned the chapel. He had every religious object and book from the past and always told everyone to worship whoever they wanted to. He was just there to make sure everyone got along ok and to help anyone if they needed it. Today he was holding a book in his hands and was ready to marry Danse and Kali.

The Door opened and Danse blinked as he felt his breath get taken away by the woman that entered. She was wearing a bluish purple dress and had a crown of hub flowers on her bald head. She was beautiful and had a smile like no other smile he's ever seen on her face.

She walked to him and grabbed his hand as she looked up at him. The holy man cleared his through to get everyone's attention. "We have all gathered to make witness to this union of souls."

Danse looked down at Kali and could barley hear the words the holy man was saying. He felt a hand on his arm and looked up at the holy man. He looked at Danse and smiled. "Do you take this woman, to have and to hold, to care for in sickness and in health, to always care for her until death you part?"

Danse nodded his head. The holy man whispered to him. "You need to say the words."

Danse took a deep breath and spoke louder then he had intended to. "I DO!"

The holy man turned to Kali and asked her the same questions. She looked up at Danse and nodded her head. "I do!"

The holy man looked around the room and frowned when he saw Duncan and Nate kissing in the ack. He cleared his throat and they broke apart. "I now pronounce these two man and wife, you may now kiss the bride!"

Danse pulled Kali close to him and kissed her passionately as everyone shouted and whistled at them.

The doors suddenly burst open and a blond woman walked through with a few of the Diamond city guards behind her. She glared at Kali then stared daggers at Daisy. "I knew I saw ghouls walking through this city, get them out of here, I don't want them around when my granddaughter arrives."

Piper stormed through the door and pointed at the woman. "ANN! What the hell are you doing!"

Ann put her hand on her hip. "What your supposed to be doing Piper! Ever since you became mayor I've been seeing more ghouls slip in. I'm putting an end to it today!"

The guards looked at Piper then at Ann. "What do you want us to do Mayor?"

Piper crossed her arms. "The ghouls stay, I wish I could tell you guys to kick her out too but I'm not as cruel as her."

Ann huffed. "Well! Piper! We'll see who gets voted next election then!."

Daisy slowly stood up and approached Ann. "Ann, here is your granddaughter, I've been taking care of her ever since your daughter passed away."

Ann looked at daisy, her eyes opened wide as her face turned a deep red. "How dare you touch my grand child!" Joy stirred in Daisy's arms and started crying with Ann yelling so close to her. Ann backed away and gave Joy a look of disgust. "Keep it, I don't want the thing since its been touched by a ghoul, its probably tainted with all manners of disease and pestilence now." She quickly turned away and stormed out the door.

Daisy just stared at the door with shock. Kali was mortified and speechless. Danse placed his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them. Nora got up and went to Daisy, she took Joy and started rocking her. "Looks like our rag tag family of misfits just got a little bigger."

Piper turned to the guards. "I don't care how fucking rich that woman is. Throw her ass out of Diamond city now!"

The guards both grinned. "With great pleasure Mayor!" They both left in a hurry.

Piper turned to Daisy and Nora. "if you need a place to stay with the baby I'll have an open apartment real soon. You can stay as long as you need to."

Daisy was still in shock as she nodded her head. Nora smiled as she rocked the baby. "Thank you piper."

Piper turned to Kali and Danse. "Hancock has radioed over that he's ready for you guy's at Goodneighbor. Ill send a few guards with you two to make sure you get there safe." Kali and Danse both nodded. "What about our stuff?"

Piper smiled. "It will be safe, I've already got it in a locked storage area."

Kali and Danse both gave Piper a hug. Kali looked down at the dress then back at piper, "Thank you for everything!"

Piper grinned, "Not a problem sister, now get going, from what Hancock told me its going to be one hell of a night for you two."

Kali and Danse waved good bye as they were fallowed by some guards. They walked through the area with no issues and made it safe to Goodneighbor. Danse opened the door under the red neon sign and held it open for her before following her in. He looked around and let out an impressed "Wow!"


End file.
